Barangay Ginebra unleashed a strong second quarter to create a significant separation on its way to a 93-81 victory over San Miguel Beer in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Troy Rosario’s exploits in the second half sustained the Kings’ assault for a fitting followup to their inspiring Christmas Day triumph before the holiday break to start 2025 with an improved 5-2 win-loss record.

Ginebra dropped 31 points in the second period to enter the intermission with a 16-point lead. The Kings kept their distance from there and had all the answers each time the Beermen tried to make a run.

“I just think our guys really came out and just played great on the defensive side. I’m looking up the score and they had that 25 points with about four minutes left in the (first) half,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

“I’m just like ‘Wow! How did we do that?’ I couldn’t figure it out. It’s just a lot of heart led by this guy (Rosario). I mean, he was all over the floor.”  

Rosario scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half including a 10-point third quarter explosion for Ginebra. He shot 9-of-14 from the field and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Justin Brownlee added 19 markers, seven boards, three blocks, two steals and two assists while Japeth Aguilar contributed 11 points in the Gin Kings first encounter with San Miguel since eliminating the Beermen in the Governor’s Cup semifinals.

San Miguel got buried by 20 points, 54-34, early in the third canto. The Beermen closest fightback was at nine, 88-79l, after import Jabari Narcis made an and-one basket with 1:46 left in the game. It would’ve gone down to eight but he missed his bonus foul shot.

San Miguel suffered its second straight defeat for a 3-4 slate.

Narcis had 17 points and 10 rebounds, CJ Perez added 14 markers, Juami Tiongson got 12 while June Mar Fajardo saw his 12 points and personal conference-best 23 boards go to waste.

The scores:   

GINEBRA (93) --- Rosario 22, Brownlee 19, Holt 15, J.Aguilar 11, Thompson 8, Abarrientos 8, Ahanmisi 7, CCu 3, Adamos 0

SAN MIGUEL (81) --- Narcis 17, Perez 14, Tiongson 12, Fajardo 12, Cruz 9, Lassiter 6, Cahilig 6, Ross 3, Tautuaa 2, Brondial 0, Enciso 0

Quarters: 16-16, 47-31, 66-50, 93-81