PBA: Ginebra stuns Converge at the buzzer to march to semis

MANILA, December 29 ------ Barangay Ginebra broke the hearts of the Converge FiberXers pulling off a thrilling 99-98 win in their do-or-die quarterfinal game in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. Stephen Holt was the hero for the Gin Kings, drilling the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime to complete a hard-earned victory. With the result, Ginebra is headed to the semifinals of the conference, where they will play San Miguel in a best-of-7 series.

Holt made just three of his 10 field goals for nine points, but showed no fear of the moment when RJ Abarrientos swung him the ball in Ginebra's final possession of overtime. He sidestepped the defense of Converge's MJ Garcia and rose for the three-pointer, which hit the bottom of the net as time expired. Abarrientos was also superb for Ginebra, putting up 20 points while making the big plays earlier in the extra period to keep the Gin Kings in the game. Troy Rosario finished with 12 points, including a clutch triple with 20.3 seconds left that gave the perennial crowd favorites some hope.

Ginebra got the job done in overtime without Scottie Thompson, who fouled out with 9.6 seconds to go in regulation. Another veteran, Japeth Aguilar, exited with 29.7 ticks left in overtime as well. But the Gin Kings displayed their famed never say die spirit throughout the game -- enough to complete an upset of Converge which entered the quarterfinals armed with a twice-to-beat advantage.

Ginebra forced the do-or-die affair after routing the FiberXers, 105-85, on Christmas Day behind a career game from Abarrientos. The FiberXers again surged ahead, 97-93, in the extra period off two charities by Gomez de Liaño on the foul that sent Aguilar to the bench. But Rosario knocked down a huge triple to make it a one-possession game, 97-96, with still 20.3 seconds to go. The Gin Kings gave up a duty foul to Balti Baltazar in their next trip down the line, but the big man only made one out of his two attempts with 8.5 seconds to go for a 98-96 count. That gave just enough time for Ginebra to come up with the game-winner, with Holt answering the call and sending their fans at the Big Dome into a frenzy.

Squandered in the loss was a 25-point effort from Gomez de Liaño, along with double-doubles from Baltazar (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Justin Arana (15 points, 13 rebounds). Archie Concepcion also stepped up with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting for Converge, but they were doomed by untimely errors and a 17-of-25 clip from the free throw line.

The Scores:

GINEBRA 99 – Abarrientos 20, David 13, Thompson 13, Rosario 12, J.Aguilar 10, Holt 9, Gray 9, Torres 8, Cu 4, Estil 1, Pinto 0

CONVERGE 98 – Gomez de Liano 25, Concepcion 18, Arana 15, Baltazar 13, Caralipio 11, Stockton 8, Winston 6, Racal 2, Garcia 0, Muyang 0, Manuel 0, Delos Santos 0, Eguilos 0

QUARTERS: 19-21, 39-40, 68-60, 86-86, 99-98

Source: news.abs-cbn.com

Source: spin.ph