Games today (Ynares Sports Center)
3 p.m. – Mahindra vs Meralco
5:15 p.m. – TNT KaTropa vs Phoenix
MANILA, Philippines - Defending champion San Miguel Beer worked on a short nine-man rotation that proved tough enough to outlast NLEX in a fierce shootout, pulling off a 114-110 victory to secure the first berth in the PBA Governors Cup Final Four at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
Elijah Millsap stood his ground against the prolific Henry Walker, coming through with 39 points and 11 rebounds, and the other SMB starters had their own double-digit outputs as the Beermen sustained their hot closing romp in the elims and knocked the Road Warriors out of contention in the season-ending tourney.
June Mar Fajardo came up with his own double-double performance with 17 points and 13 rebounds while Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter and Arwind Santos contributed at least 11 markers each for the Beermen who roared to a fourth straight PBA semis.
NLEX, meanwhile, remained in the hunt for an elusive first semis stint in franchise history. The Road Warriors are now 0-6 in quarterfinal games.
Chris Ross, Gabby Espinas, Yancy de Ocampo and Ronald Tubid were the only four Beermen tapped in for relief job and they made key contributions as San Miguel advanced to the best-of-five semis versus the winner of the Barangay Ginebra-Alaska Milk quarters matchup.
Millsap, Fajardo, Cabagnot and Lassiter delivered the crucial baskets at the finish as the Beermen beat out Walker and his teammates in a game marked by wild momentum swings.
It was a duel of runs won by the Beermen on a decisive 9-3 tear from a precarious 103-102 lead.
“I knew from the start that it won’t be easy as we always engage in a close game,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
“We had the same game in the elims. We were leading by 17 but they erased it and they even raced ahead,” Austria also said. “It’s a good lesson for us. We can’t win a championship if we don’t improve our defense.”
The Road Warriors put up a tough stand with Walker exploding for seven treys and a total of 45 points and the whole team firing away 14-of-35 three-pointers as against the Beermen’s 12-of-28.
Jonas Villanueva came out firing in the fourth and the Road Warriors completely wiped out a 46-63 deficit, surging ahead at 89-88.
The Road Warriors fought the Beermen in a high-scoring battle with Villanueva scoring 17 points, Garvo Lanete and Asi Taulava adding 13 each and Sean Anthony chipping in 11.
They hung on in the battle until Millsap canned in two charities to make it 114-110 with only 2.4 seconds to go.
NLEX hit the end of the road, becoming the fifth casualty in the tourney after Blackwater, Star, Globalport and Rain or Shine.
LA Tenorio erupted for a personal three-year high of 32 points while Justin Brownlee scored 29 including a lethal trey at endgame as the Gin Kings smothered the Alaska Milk Aces, 109-104, to also advance into the semis later in the night.
With big games from Tenorio and Browlee, Ginebra got past Alaska to arrange a best-of-five semis showdown with San Miguel.
Sol Mercado and Japeth Aguilar also rose to the occasion, helping the Kings nail a first semis appearance in eight conferences. The Kings had never been into the semis since finishing third in the 2013-14 Philippine Cup.
The scores:
First Game
SAN MIGUEL 114 – Millsap 39, Fajardo 17, Lassiter 14, Cabagnot 14, Santos 11, Espinas 7, Tubid 6, Ross 4, De Ocampo 2.
NLEX 110 – Walker 45, Villanueva J. 17, Lanete 13, Taulava 13, Anthony 11, Villanueva E. 6, Khobuntin 3, Alas 2, Baracael 0, Monfort 0.
Quarterscores: 24-23, 63-48, 86-82, 114-110
The scores:
GINEBRA 109 – Tenorio 32, Brownlee 29, Mercado 14, Aguilar 12, Marcelo 7, Devance 6, Caguioa 4, Thompson 3, Cruz 2, Mariano 0, Helterbrand 0.
ALASKA 104 – Henton 27, Abueva 17, Jazul 13, Hontiveros 12, Manuel 10, Casio 9, Thoss 9, Banchero 5, Racal 2, Baclao 0, Dela Rosa 0, Exciminiano 0.
Quarterscores: 23-23, 53-41, 86-66, 109-104