Barangay Ginebra’s never-say-die spirit is very much alive on Christmas Day.

RJ Abarrientos found an open Scottie Thompson on the left corner for the game-winning triple at the buzzer in the Kings’ 95-92 escape in another epic rivalry encounter in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Ginebra completed a come-from-behind victory from 22 points down in the third quarter to improve to a 4-2 win-loss record.

“At half time I was so disappointed because we had a nice crowd, they came to watch the game, and we played so poorly in the first half,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said.

“I think the guys kinda gathered themselves and got a little bit more determined in the second half. I think Justin (Brownlee) doesn’t get credit for his defense but he guarded (Ricardo) Ratliffe the whole second half. That was big because it takes a lot out of him.”

Abarrientos scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half including four big treys and dished out five assists for the Kings, who overhauled a 54-76 deficit late in the third period to get back on the winning track.    

“RJ just kept making big shots after big shots. You kinda feel it coming. You can feel the momentum shifting and then or course everybody’s gonna remember Scottie’s big shot but this guy (Abarrientos) got the penetration and the kicked out the pass to him,” Cone said of the third overall pick in the last Draft.

Brownlee finished with 28 points on 10-of-21 field goal shooting including a 5-of-6 clip from the three-point area and, grabbed seven rebounds and had five dishes in 45 minutes of action.

Troy Rosario had 15 markers and eight boards while Thompson had 14 points, five rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block for Ginebra, which saw the return of Japeth Aguilar and Stephen Holt from injuries.

Brownlee gave the Kings the lead, 86-84, off a triple with 4:30 left. Ginebra played a seesaw battle from there with Brownlee nailing another trey for a 92-90 with 2:03 left.
Rome Dela Rosa tied it at 92 at pointblank range off a nifty pass from Ratliffe.

Magnolia slipped to a 2-5 mark.   

Ratliffe had 17 points and 16 rebounds, Mark Barroca had 13 markers, seven boards, and four assists while Paul Lee and Ian Sangalang added eight points each but weren’t enough to save the Hotshots.

Meanwhile, Converge won its fourth straight game after whipping injury-plagued Meralco, 110-94, to end the year with a 6-2 record at second spot tied with Hong Kong Eastern.

Jordan Heading had a game-high 30 points for the FiberXers, who sent the Bolts reeling to back-to-back defeats in five outings.

Meralco played sans Raymond Almazan, Brandon Bates and CJ Cansino but saw the return of Akil Mitchell, Chirs Banchero and Allein Maliksi.

The scores:

First game

CONVERGE (110) --- Heading 30, Diallo 24, Baltazar 16, Winston 11, Stockton 10, Arana 7, Andrada 5, Racal 3, Delos Santos 2, Santos 2, Fornillos 0, Nieto 0, Ambohot 0, Caralipio 0, Javillonar 0.

MERALCO (94) --- Mitchell 29, Quinto 23, Hodge 10, Newsome 9, Banchero 6, Maliksi 5, Reyson 3, Pascual 3, Black 2, Rios 2, Caram 2, Torres 0.

Quarters: 26-20, 58-41, 85-66, 110-94

Second game

GINEBRA (95) --- Brownlee 28, Abarrientos 20, Rosario 15, Thompson 14, J.Aguilar 8, Holt 5, Ahanmisi 5, Tenorio 0, Cu 0, Mariano 0

MAGNOLIA (92) --- Ratliffe 17, Barroca 13, Lee 11, Sangalang 11, Lucero 8, Balanza 8, Dela Rosa 7, Dionisio 6, Lastimosa 6, Abueva 5, J.Ahanmisi 0

Quarters:  24-30, 41-55, 67-78, 95-92