By REYNALD MAGALLON
Barangay Ginebra continued to assert its mastery of Converge and essayed an 88-80 victory to advance to the semifinals of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday, June 20.
The Kings rode on a strong showing in the middle quarters to create the separation before fending off a late FiberXers rally to march into the team’s seventh straight semifinals appearance where they will meet the San Miguel Beermen.
RJ Abarrientos provided the tip to the Kings’ spear, firing 21 points – including the dagger jumper with 56 seconds left to slam the door on Converge’ s comeback hopes.
Japeth Aguilar put up a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds on top of the three blocks while Jamie Malonzo and Stephen Holt added 14 and 13, respectively.
With the victory, Ginebra has won all but one of its matchup against Converge ever since the FiberXers entered the league in 2022.
San Miguel, on the other hand, finally got a revenge on its tormentor in its last finals appearance, eliminating defending champion Meralco, 108-97, in the quarterfinals.
June Mar Fajardo, Juami Tiongson and Don Trollano took turns in establishing the big lead for the Beermen before fending off any efforts for a Bolts comeback in the second half to claim the first seat in the All-Filipino Cup semifinals.
SMB hardly needed to use its twice-to-beat advantage as Fajardo spearheaded the masterful performance for the top seed by erupting for 23 points and 15 rebounds along with four blocks.
But it was not the league-leading Best Player of the Conference contender alone who did most of the damager as five other Beermen exploded with double-digit scoring efforts led by Tiongson and Trollano, who fired 19 points apiece.
Rodney Brondial contributed with his own double-double effort of 13 points and 12 rebounds, while CJ Perez chipped in 14 points and dished out nine assists.
