LOOKING TO END A TREND
With their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal series reduced to a best-of-three, San Miguel Beer is eager to flip a trend that has seen them alternate wins with Barangay Ginebra.
And a 131-121 victory over the Gin Kings on late Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum may create the momentum the Beermen need to do that.
“I just hope we change the trend in Friday’s game,” coach Jorge Gallent said after the Beermen put themselves back on level terms with Barangay Ginebra with their Game 4 triumph.
He has good reason to go for that. San Miguel has won the even-numbered games compared to Ginebra, which took Games 1 and 3 in contrasting fashion. The Beermen blew out the Kings in Game 4 to make sure no team has won back-to-back games in this semifinal bracket—a sequence that benefits Ginebra should it continue to the end.
It will be a chase for the all-important third win on Friday at Ynares Center in Antipolo City where Game 5 could be the more crucial meeting than the potential clincher by the other side of the semifinal bracket featuring TNT and Rain or Shine (See related story on this page).
“Now that it’s a best-of-three, the next game will be very important,” said Gallent. “I just hope tradition breaks on Friday.”
How June Mar Fajardo performs in the Rizal capital will play a major role in San Miguel’s quest, especially if he continues to play like he did in Game 4.
Award front-runner
Fajardo finished with 29 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Beermen, and showed why he is the front-runner for the Best Player of the Conference award.
Import EJ Anosike also made his presence felt with 27 points and 11 rebounds.
Four of the six other players used by Gallent, who opted for a shorter rotation, scored in double figures: CJ Perez (20), Marcio Lassiter and Don Trollano (15 each) and Game 2 hero Terrence Romeo (14).
It was Anosike’s string of baskets that enabled the Beermen to pull away and eventually turn a game that had a potential of a tight finish into a blowout.
San Miguel won despite allowing Ginebra’s resident import Justin Brownlee to drop 49 points on 20-of-26 shooting.
“Good thing we got this win because we played our type of game, the San Miguel type of basketball,” Fajardo said in Filipino.
PBA Press Corps Player of the Week Stephen Holt scored 17 and Scottie Thompson added 15 points, four rebounds and eight assists for Ginebra, which trailed by a high of 20.
