The Ginebra quarterfinal berth was the last one on offer, and Barangay Ginebra took it on Friday by beating Blackwater 101-96 at the Ynares Center in Antipolo. The result completes the PBA Governors' Cup playoff picture and sends the Gin Kings into a quarterfinal against San Miguel, the No. 2 team from Group A.
Ginebra closed the elimination round at 5-5, level with Phoenix, and needed the quotient tiebreak to land third in Group B. Phoenix slipped to fourth and will meet NLEX instead, a swing that shaped both quarterfinal pairings.
How the quotient decided the Ginebra quarterfinal berth
Ginebra and Phoenix both finished the elimination round at 5-5, leaving the two teams tied inside Group B. The tiebreak fell to quotient, and Ginebra's superior figure pushed it to third place while the Fuel Masters dropped to fourth.
That one-place difference reshaped the bracket. Third place meant San Miguel, the No. 2 team out of Group A; fourth place meant NLEX for Phoenix. The gap between the two records was narrow enough that the tiebreak, not the win total, decided who each team plays.
It also means Ginebra's path now runs through the second seed of the opposite group rather than the third, a detail that matters more than the one-game difference in the standings suggests.
Ginebra's fast start sets the tone against Blackwater
Ginebra opened hot and built a double-digit lead in the first quarter, an advantage that shaped the rest of the game. The Gin Kings kept the pressure through the third quarter and carried an 87-72 lead into the fourth.
Jordan Murphy led the way with 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Troy Rosario gave the bench 17 points and four rebounds.
RJ Abarrientos added 14 points, three assists and two rebounds, Jeremiah Gray scored 11, and Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar finished with 10 each. The scoring spread widely enough that Blackwater could not key on a single player.
Blackwater's late push falls short
Blackwater trimmed a lead that had reached 20 points down to seven, 90-97, with 2:37 remaining. Ralph Cu answered with a jumper to make it 99-90, and late triples by Jed Mendoza and Jack Cruz-Dumont did not bring the Bossing within striking distance.
Kentrell Barkley paced Blackwater with 16 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes and 36 seconds of play. Sedrick Barefield chipped in 12 points in the loss.
With the final quarterfinal ticket claimed, Blackwater's elimination-round run ends without a place in the next round.
Sunday's quarterfinal openers in Antipolo
The quarterfinals tip off Sunday at the same Ynares Center venue. NLEX takes on Phoenix at 5:15 p.m., and Magnolia faces TNT at 7:30 p.m.
For Ginebra, the immediate task is San Miguel, a pairing earned on quotient rather than on a clear gap in the standings. For Phoenix, the NLEX matchup offers a reset after losing a place on the tiebreak.
The open question for the Gin Kings is whether the fast starts that carried them past Blackwater hold up against a higher seed. Friday's first quarter is the only recent evidence either way.
The original report on this result appeared at philstar.com.
