Grand Slam averted: Ginebra halts SMB’s treble bid

Post-game photo of Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel Team. (Photo: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel/Facebook)

MANILA —  With speculations running rife on how a PBA Governors’ Cup playoff series between San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra would end, even before the start of the conference, Coach Tim Cone vowed he will not give SMB the grand slam on a silver platter.

On Wednesday night, the Barangay did just that.

Ginebra shut down SMB’s hopes of completing the season treble with a 104-84 quarterfinal rout at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

The third-seeded Barangay, the defending champions of the season-ending conference, limited the sixth-seeded Beermen to only nine second-quarter points before scoring 30 in the final frame to seal the knockout.

Justin Brownlee led Ginebra with 37 points on 13-of-22 shooting, 12 rebounds, two assists, four blocks, and one steal. It will await the winner of the Friday do-or-die game between TNT and Rain or Shine in the semifinals, which start Sunday.

Joe Devance added 17 markers, three boards, and four dimes.

LA Tenorio and Scottie Thompson came close to their own double-doubles, with Tenorio making eight points and 10 assists and Thompson contributing seven points and 13 rebounds.

Terrence Watson made 30 points, five caroms, two dimes, one block, and one steal for SMB, which will have to start its grand slam bid all over again next season.

Box Scores:

Ginebra 104: Brownlee 37, Devance 17, Aguilar J. 13, Slaughter 13, Mercado 9, Tenorio 8, Thompson 7, Mariano 0

San Miguel 84: Watson 30, Fajardo 19, Lassiter 13, Cabagnot 8, Santos 6, Ross 5, Espinas 3, Rosser 0, De Ocampo 0.

Quarterscores: 23-23, 45-32, 74-61, 104-84.