Kings rally from 13 down, stun Beermen

Game 1: A royal comeback   

MANILA, Philippines - Barangay Ginebra played like the Ginebra of old in the second half – with crisp outside shooting, efficient defense and a fighting heart that has enamored the crowd for decades – to beat San Miguel Beer, 115-108, in the opener of their PBA Governors Cup best-of-five semifinal showdown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Kings struggled in the first half but hit their stride in the third, sparking a momentum shift that carried the team to the stirring seven-point triumph.

 “To tell you the truth, in that first half, it looked like we were totally overmatched. We looked like we didn’t belong on the same court. They were doing it with some ease and it was disheartening,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

“But the guys came out and raised the level of their game and got things going their way and gained some confidence. I certainly didn’t have a lot of confidence in the first half. To their credit, they kept battling and battling,” Cone added.

Sol Mercado, Joe Devance and Scottie Thompson, all groping for form in the first 24 minutes of play, came out firing in the second half, helping Justin Brownlee and Japeth Aguilar anchor the come-from-behind victory.

Mercado provided the spark, pouring in 17 of his 19 points in the second half. He hit jumpers and unleashed daring drives as the Kings rallied from a 13-point deficit and seized control with a 12-point lead at 92-80.

Brownlee proved solid all throughout, coming through with 39 points and 16 rebounds while Aguilar also dished out a superb game of 22 points, including 10 in their third-quarter charge.

Thompson came up with a sterling all-around numbers with 11 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Devance contributed 12 markers, seven boards and three dish-outs.

Meanwhile, TNT KaTropa, enjoying one of its finest runs, and Meralco, hoping to hit peak form, begin their first-ever PBA Final Four face-off tonight in their side of best-of-five series, also at the Big Dome.

Tip-off is at 7 p.m. with the Texters as the consensus choice owing to the lethal form they’ve shown in a stirring drive from the start of the tournament all the way through the quarterfinals.

The Beermen set the pace in the early going with June Mar Fajardo dominating the paint and the SMB outside gunners also hitting their shots as they raced to an 11-point lead, 57-46, at the turn.

Fajardo, Elijah Millsap, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos all had double-digit outputs by the half with Marcio Lassiter adding eight, including two three-point bombs.