Terrence Romeo leads San Miguel Beermen to series-tying victory against Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–On the verge of a meltdown, San Miguel on Friday night hit all the important shots in the crunch to will the Beermen past Barangay Ginebra in overtime, 131-125, and level the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals to a game apiece.
Terrence Romeo was on the forefront of that resolute stand at Smart Araneta Coliseum, helping weather one Gin Kings fight back after another with his conference-best 26 points.
SCHEDULE: 2024 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals
“Game 1, we weren’t in the flow of the offense that’s why our defense was really bad. We were scrambling a lot. Now we knew where the ball should be going. June Mar (Fajardo) did a great job passing the ball to our shooters,” said head coach Jorge Gallent, whose charges led by 13 at one point in the contest.
“Our ball movement was great. Our defense was good as well. We were able to execute better every time we made a stop,” said Romeo, who scored 13 in the fourth and then added nine of his total 28 in the extra period.
READ: PBA: Justin Brownlee avenges Ginebra’s 49-point to loss San Miguel
EJ Anosike finished with 35 points and nine rebounds, while CJ Perez had 28 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists for the Beermen, who avoided going down into a 0-2 rut in the best-of-seven semifinal showdown.
Justin Brownlee had 39 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists, while Japeth Aguilar led three more locals in chipping in double-digit scores in the losing stand.
The corporate siblings battle for the series lead in Game 3 this Sunday, which will be held in Dasmariñas Cavite.
The Scores (OT):
SAN MIGUEL 131 – Anosike 35, Perez 28, Romeo 26, Fajardo 23, Lassiter 12, Cruz 5, Tautuaa 2, Ross 0, Rosales 0, Trollano 0, Enciso 0, Manuel 0.
GINEBRA 125 – Brownlee 39, J.Aguilar 29, Thompson 16, Ahanmisi 15, Holt 14, Abarrientos 4, Tenorio 3, Cu 2, Devance 2, Pinto 1, Pessumal 0, Adamos 0.
Quarterscores: 22-24, 51-47, 85-76, 110-110, 131-125.