Barangay Ginebra San Miguel completed the upset of twice-to-beat TNT following a resounding 115-95 win in their knockout quarterfinal match Saturday, March 19 to reach the semifinals of the PBA Governors’ Cup.
A late second quarter surge allowed the Gin Kings to separate themselves from the Tropang Giga and take full control of the contest played before a crowd of 10,486 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Majority of the audience were delighted to see import Justin Brownlee, do-it-all Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, LA Tenorio and John Pinto step up as Ginebra progressed to the next round despite placing sixth and needing to beat TNT twice.
Ginebra also exacted revenge on TNT after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup which the latter eventually won.
The Gin Kings will play the winner of the other do-or-die quarterfinal match between the Alaska Aces and NLEX Road Warriors which was being played as of posting time in a best-of-five semis starting Wednesday.
TNT’s season comes to an end after making a move in bringing in stand-by import Leon Gilmore III for Aaron Fuller, who the team said was dealing with an injury.
Gilmore, booed by the Ginebra audience right from the start, turned in 14 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals but his performance left plenty to be desired.
Brownlee fired 29 points while grabbing 18 rebounds, once again showing why he usually delivers in pressure-packed situations.
Thompson’s activity on both ends nearly resulted in a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists even as Aguilar kept knocking medium-range jumpers on his way to 26 points with seven rebounds and two blocks.
Tenorio knocked threes that kept TNT at bay before finishing with 22 points, six rebounds and six assists while Pinto continued to show why he was signed as an unrestricted free agent last January with seven points, five rebounds and five assists.
Only ahead 49-46 with less than two minutes left, Ginebra put on a massive finishing kick before heading to the dressing room as Thompson scored off a steal before Brownlee and Tenorio drained back-to-back threes to create an 11-point lead.
Gilmore ended the run with a basket, but Brownlee’s turnaround at the buzzer gave Ginebra a 59-48 halftime lead.
The lead even grew in the third as Ginebra continued to frustrate TNT, even keeping its composure the rest of the way when its lead was cut to as low as 13.
Mikey Williams worked doubly hard for his 17 points against the Ginebra defense that put a disappointing end to what was an impressive rookie campaign.
The scores:
GINEBRA 115 — Brownlee 29, Aguilar 26, Tenorio 22, Thompson 17, Standhardinger 10, Pinto 7, Chan 4, Caperal 0, Enriquez 0, Ayaay 0.
TNT 95 — Williams M. 17, Gilmore 14, Castro 12, Erram 11, Williams K. 10, Pogoy 9, Rosario 7, Khobuntin 5, Montalbo 4, Cruz 3, Reyes 3, Marcelo 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.
Quarters: 25-29, 59-48, 96-74, 115-95.