By Jay R. Gotera
Saudi Gazette
MANILA — The San Miguel Beermen kept their poise in the endgame this time, warding off the rallying Barangay Ginebra Kings for a 95-92 victory in Game 2 of their best-of-five PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals series Wednesday night.
The win tied the series at 1-1 with Game 3 set for Friday night.
Import Elijah Millsap led the Beermen with 25 points on top of nine rebounds and four assists.
Reigning back-to-back MVP June Mar Fajardo suffered a cut on the forehead, which kept him on the bench longer than he used to be. Despite this, the standout player nicknamed “The Kraken” still finished with 18 points and 23 huge rebounds for the Beermen.
Alex Cabagnot added 13 points and eight assists while Ronald Tubid came off the bench to chip in 10 markers, including two three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Held scoreless in Game 1, LA Tenorio bounced back mightily, posting team-highs of 22 points and seven assists for the Kings.
The story of the game appeared like a replay of the previous match, with the Beermen racing to a double-digit lead, 24-12, early in the first quarter, as Fajardo went ballistic with 10 points and four rebounds in a span of nine minutes.
In the second quarter, Fajardo suffered a cut after being inadvertently hit by the elbow of teammate Millsap. Even without Fajardo, who had to be treated at the dugout, the Beermen remained in control of the game, taking a 51-40 halftime lead.
After the break, the Kings launched a furious third-quarter assault. With Tenorio catching fire, scoring six of a 10-0 run, Ginebra whittled down SMB’s lead to within three, 53-50.
Tenorio knotted the game at 58-all after a three-point play before grabbing the lead for Ginebra, 61-60, with a three-pointer.
But the Beermen still managed to be on the driver’s seat, 72-71, at the end of the third.
SMB then went on a 9-0 blast in the fourth quarter to take an 88-78 lead.
Millsap would also complete a three-point play to make it 91-80 with 6:50 remaining in the game.
But the Kings responded with a 9-0 run of their own to cut SMB’s lead to 91-89.
With 20 seconds left, Tenorio hit another booming three-pointer to cut SMB’s lead to 93-92.
This time, unlike in Game 1, SMB kept their poise as Millsap found himself free for a slam dunk, giving his team a more comfortable three-point lead.
Ginebra import Justin Brownlee tried to force overtime, but his well-defended three-point attempt missed its mark as the buzzer sounded.
Game Thursday: TNT KaTropa vs. Meralco Bolts (Best-of-5 semifinals; TNT leads 1-0).
