RJ Abarrientos dazzled to help the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings get a crucial victory in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup semifinals.
The 2024 draft’s third overall pick impressed as the Gin Kings dumped the San Miguel Beermen, 100-90, in their Game 3 faceoff, Sunday evening, June 29, at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City for a 2-1 semis lead.
Abarrientos fired 18 of his 24 points in the fourth period — his best game so far of the series — and this was on top of nine rebounds and eight assists.
Equally impressive was Jamie Malonzo as the athletic wingman delivered 20 markers with seven boards, while Japeth Aguilar, Scottie Thompson and Stephen Holt posted 18, 16 and 10 points, respectively.
Ginebra head coach Tim Cone lauded his players for these performances, especially since they are coming off a tough defeat in Game 2.
“We didn’t play well last time around, they basically outworked us, but we figured a couple of things out.”
However, he warned the Gin Kings to avoid getting complacent, especially since ahead of them is the pivotal Game 4 on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“[San Miguel’s] really well coached, it’s a really good team. So when you beat a team like that, you really feel good, so you avoid that,” said the Gilas Pilipinas mentor.
Ginebra will be looking to duplicate what they did last night, more particularly in the second half wherein Abarrientos and Malonzo did most of the damage against the Beermen.
The latter converted a couple of fastbreaks to allow the crowd darlings to enter the fourth with a seven-point lead, and it eventually was the former’s turn to show out in the last 12 minutes.
Abarrientos drained a booming four-pointer at the 7:55 mark, giving the Gin Kings an 82-73 lead, and he even followed this up with nine points later on, helping them build a cushion that grew to as much as 16.
On the other hand, Don Trollano led the Beermen with 22 points and three rebounds, while June Mar Fajardo still finished with a 12-point, 14-rebound game despite dealing with calf tightness.
Jericho Cruz and CJ Perez were also in double digits with 11 markers each, while Juami Tiongson contributed 10.
The Beermen are now hoping to avoid a 3-1 hole come Game 4, which tips off at 5:00 p.m. at the aforementioned Pasay bayside venue. (ABS-CBN News)