MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings kicked off the New Year with a 93-81 victory over sister team San Miguel Beermen in the 2024-25 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Jeth Troy Rosario played his best game in a Ginebra jersey, finishing with 22 points, including four three-point conversions, to go with 10 rebounds and a block as they improved to a 5-2 win-loss slate.
Justin Brownlee played through a clogged nose and finished with 19 points, Stephen Holt and Japeth Aguilar had 15 and 11 points, respectively, while Earl Scottie Thompson ended with 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and eight points for the Gin Kings.
From a 16-all score in the opening quarter, the Gin Kings created separation in the second quarter behind conversions from Aguilar and Rosario to establish a 47-31 halftime lead.
The Gin Kings’ lead grew to as high as 20 points in the second half, but the Beermen countered with a huge run to cut the deficit to 10 points in the fourth quarter, but timely conversions from Rosario and Brownlee sealed the victory for Barangay Ginebra.
Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone pointed to their defense as well as the huge offensive game of Rosario as the keys to their huge victory against the defending champions Beermen.
“I think our guys came out and played great on the defensive side, I was looking up at the scoreboard (in the first half) and they just have 25 points, and I said, ‘Wow, how do we do that?,’” Cone said in a post-game interview.
“It was just a lot of heart led by this guy (Rosario), I mean he was all over the floor, he was all over there defensively, I think tonight he was also huge on the offensive side,” he added.
Jabari Narcis tallied a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, Jaymar Perez and Juan Miguel Tiongson had 14 and 12 points, respectively, while June Mar Fajardo had 12 points and 22 rebounds for the Beermen, which dropped to a 3-4 record./PN
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 93 – Rosario 22, Brownlee 19, Holt 15, J. Aguilar 11, Thompson 8, Abarrientos 8, Ahanmisi 7, Cu 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.
Quarterscores: 16-16, 47-31, 66-50, 93-81.
