The San Miguel Beermen weathered a huge fourth quarter storm by Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to bag a 107-103 win and stop the Gin Kings’ hot winning run in the Oppo PBA Governors’ Cup on Sunday at SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
New import Terrence Watson impressed in his league debut, scoring 28 points and 17 boards while throwing down rim-rattling dunks as the Beermen (5-3) put an end to the seven-game winning streak of Ginebra (7-2).
Arwind Santos chipped in 23 points while Chris Ross contributed 20 points, four rebounds, five assists and four steals for San Miguel which almost blew a 26-point lead to Ginebra.
San Miguel unleashed its juggernaut offense in the first half, with Watson shocking the Ginebra defense with his inside play.
Santos and Ross also went lights out in the perimeter, combining for 32 points in the first half as the Beermen controlled the game by establishing an imposing 59-33 lead.
San Miguel was then threatened by Ginebra in the fourth quarter, with Kevin Ferrer and Japeth Aguilar leading an 11-2 run that pulled the Gin Kings to within 13 points.
Ginebra continued its comeback attempt, with LA Tenorio burying a triple to trim their deficit to nine, 97-88, with just two minutes left.
The Beermen however had time on their side to survive the rally of Ginebra which engaged in a fouling game late in the match.
Aguilar top-scored for Ginebra with 18 points and seven rebounds.
The game marked the first time after a year that rival giants June Mar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter faced off. “The Kraken” scored 10 points and 15 boards while “Gregzilla” had 16 points and seven rebounds.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 107 – Watson 28, Santos 23, Ross 20, Cabagnot 16, Fajardo 10, Lassiter 7, Rosser 3, Heruela 0, De Ocampo 0.
GINEBRA 103 – Aguilar J. 18, Tenorio 17, Slaughter 16, Brownlee 14, Ferrer 11, Thompson 7, Caguioa 3, Mercado 2, Aguilar R. 0, Taha 0.
Quarters: 30-16, 56-33, 87-65, 107-103.
