San Miguel avoids sweep and lives to see Friday. June Mar Fajardo went a perfect 7-of-7 from the field for 18 points and 13 rebounds as the Beermen escaped Barangay Ginebra, 101-98, in Game 3 of the PBA Season 50 Governors' Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday in Cavite.
Ginebra had won the first two games of the series by a big margin and came in hunting the closeout. Instead the series moves to a Game 4 on Friday, with San Miguel still chasing but no longer staring at a sweep.
San Miguel avoids sweep as Fajardo stays perfect
Fajardo's 7-of-7 night was the anchor: 18 points, 13 rebounds, no wasted attempts. George King kept firing through a rough 9-of-22 clip to finish with 21 points, 12 rebounds and two assists, while CJ Perez added 14 and Marcio Lassiter 13.
That balance gave San Miguel a lead big enough to survive the fourth quarter, when the game got loose and the Gin Kings started hunting threes.
The 15-point lead and the late scare
A King layup midway through the third period made it 69-54, giving the Beermen the separation they had been chasing. Ginebra answered with the run that dragged it back into the game.
RJ Abarrientos buried a big three off a Scottie Thompson pass inside the final 1:04 of the fourth, cutting the deficit to 98-99. Ginebra had multiple chances to steal the win, but Stephen Holt, Thompson and Abarrientos all went wide from deep.
Abarrientos and Ginebra's supporting cast
Abarrientos led the Gin Kings with 21 points, six rebounds and three assists. Jordan Murphy and Isaac Go both chipped in 17 markers, enough to keep Ginebra in range until the final misses.
Austria on extending the campaign
San Miguel head coach Leo Austria was blunt about where his team stood before the win.
"I thought we would be having an early vacation, but this game extended our campaign until Friday and hopefully, we could force a Game 5 as well," San Miguel head coach Leo Austria said.
"It's very evident that our defense is there. The energy and effort can be seen and the most crucial thing, from what I observed from the players in the dugout, was the fire in their eyes."
Analysis: Ginebra's late threes fell short
Analysis: Ginebra's comeback was built on the three-ball, and its last three attempts came from the same distance. The source does not detail how clean those looks were. What it does record is that Holt, Thompson and Abarrientos all missed, and the Beermen escaped without conceding again.
Game 4 on Friday
Game 4 is set for Friday, with Ginebra still ahead in the series and San Miguel hoping Austria's talk of a Game 5 holds up. The Beermen's margin for error stays thin.
The original report on this game was published by gmanetwork.com.
