RJ Abarrientos played like a man on a mission after a spectacular showing that sent Barangay Ginebra San Miguel right to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup finals doorstep.
The rookie took over from where Scottie Thompson started, powering the Gin Kings to a convincing 121-92 Game 5 win for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven semifinals series Friday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
Abarrientos finished with career-high 28 points on 9-of-14 field goal shooting on top of three rebounds and two assists off the bench for Ginebra, which inched closer to a return trip to the championship round since it wound up runner-up to TNT in the previous edition in the 2022-2023 season.
Game 6 is on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Gin Kings got into trouble early after going down by 13. Thompson led a huge run that turned the tables around and Ginebra never looked back.
“They came out with guns blazing at the beginning of the game. Just like Game 4 all over again. They just came out firing. There’s a lot of worry in the timeouts but we got ourselves settled,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said.
“I thought RJ and Joe (Devance), the two of them came out in the first quarter and settled us down hitting shots. Scottie did a great job by keeping us in the game early so we were able to settle ourselves down.”
Ginebra’s 13-point lead at the intermission was enough to cushion a third-quarter fightback by San Miguel before completely blowing out the Beermen.
Thompson had 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Justin Brownlee flirted with a triple-double with 18 points, 9 rebounds and seven assists while Japeth Aguilar added 15 points for the Gin Kings.
Maverick Ahanmisi scored 13 for Ginebra, whose bench mob outworked their counterparts on offense, 44-19.
Ginebra blew the game wide-open, 121-90, off a jumper by Von Pessumal with 59 seconds left in the game.
Ginebra erased a 13-point deficit in just three minutes, unleashing a furious 14-0 blitz to claw back from a 20-33 hole with just 3:03 left in the opening period and take a 34-33 lead at the end of the quarter after a completed three-point play by Abarrientos.
Thompson exploded for 18 points in the first quarter shooting 8-of-9 from the field including two triples.
Abarrientos and Brownlee took over in the second canto combining for 19 points as the Gin Kings outscored the Beermen, 29-17, for a comfortable 63-50 lead entering halftime.
EJ Anosike had 21 points to pace the Beermen while June Mar Fajardo saw his double-double effort of 17 markers and 18 boards go down the drain.
CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter got 16 points each while Jericho Cruz had a quiet three-point outing before having his night outing cut short after suffering a sprained right ankle following an awkward fall with 9:32 left in the fourth.
He never came back to the game.
The Scores:
GINEBRA (121) — Abarrientos 28, Thompson 22, Brownlee 18, J.Aguilar 15, Ahanmisi 13, Holt 9, Cu 4, Pinto 3, Adamos 2, Devance 2, Pessumal 2, R.Aguilar 2, Mariano 1.
SAN MIGUEL (92) — Anosike 21, Fajardo 17, Perez 16, Lassiter 16, Trollano 7, Ross 4, Enciso 4, Cruz 3, Brondial 2, Romeo 2, Nava 0, Tautuaa 0, Rosales 0.
Quarters: 34-33, 63-50, 92-79, 121-92.