BARANGAY Ginebra remained the dominant side in its long-running rivalry with Meralco, emerging victorious in their do-or-die setto Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, to take the fourth and last spot in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals.
Before a big crowd at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo, the Kings beat the Bolts in the crunch, notching a 94-87 victory to complete the Final Four cast alongside seed NorthPort, second seed TNT, and No. 6 Rain or Shine.
Earlier, Rain or Shine beat Converge 112-103 to advance to the semifinals for the third straight conference.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone’s troops gained a sixth straight conference semis and will shoot for the finals versus the Batang Pier, while the Elasto Painters will face TNT in a race-to-four affair.
The best-of-seven semis will begin on Feb. 26 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum after Gilas Pilipinas’ February matches in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers versus New Zealand and Chinese Taipei.
Ginebra and Meralco were locked in a furious battle before the Kings ignited a decisive 8-0 roll to establish an 88-75 lead entering the last two minutes.
RJ Abarrientos hit a trey, Justin Brownlee completed a three-point play, and Japeth Aguilar scored on a thunderous jam off a Brownlee feed as the Kings broke the Bolts’ back.
The Bolts threatened to pull away early on but the Kings unleashed a 10-0 run to end the second quarter, trimming Meralco’s lead to one, 38-37, at the break.
The Kings fought with great resolve through the second half, striking and advancing with a chance for a second straight finals appearance in Season 49.
Abarrientos, the subject of alleged death threats on the heels of their 104-108 loss in Game 2, gutted it out and scored 16 points, including a big trey that triggered their endgame pull-away.
Brownlee showed up as “Mr. Clutch” as usual, with a near triple-double performance of 25 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, significantly outplaying Akill Mitchell, who struggled and managed only eight markers.
Stephen Holt and Troy Rosario also delivered double-digit outputs for Ginebra with 17 and 12 points, respectively.
Chris Newsome tallied 22 points for the Bolts, who missed active consultant Nenad Vucinic after he was ejected due to technical fouls entering the last four minutes of the contest. / PBA