BARANGAY Ginebra remained the dominant side in its long-running rivalry with Meralco, coming through in their do-or-die setto Sunday to take the fourth and last spot in the PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals.
Before a big crowd at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo, the Kings beat the Bolts in the crunch, essaying a 94-87 victory to complete the Final Four cast, joining top seed NorthPort, second seed TNT and No. 6 Rain or Shine.
Coach Tim Cone's troops gained a sixth straight conference semis and will shoot for the finals versus the Batang Pier.
The best-of-seven semis begins on Feb. 26 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum after Gilas Pilipinas' February gig in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers versus New Zealand and Chinese Taipei.
Ginebra and Meralco were locked in a furious battle before the Kings ignited a decisive 8-0 roll to open an 88-75 lead entering the last two minutes.
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RJ Abarrientos fired a trey, Justin Brownlee completed a three-point play then Japeth Aguilar scored on a thunderous jam off a Brownlee feed as the Kings broke the Bolts' back.
The Bolts threatened to pull away early on but the Kings unleashed a 10-0 run to end the second quarter, trimming Meralco's lead to one, 38-37, at the break.
And the Kings fought with great resolve through the second half, striking and advancing with a shot for a second straight finals in Season 49.
Abarrientos, the subject of alleged death threats on the heels of their 104-108 loss in Game Two, gutted it out and scored 16 points, including a big trey that triggered their endgame pull-away.
Brownlee showed up as "Mr. Clutch" as usual, terribly outclassing Akill Mitchell with a near triple-double of 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Mitchell, on the other hand, bled for just eight markers.
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Stephen Holt and Troy Rosario also delivered double-digit outputs fir Ginebra with 17 and 12, respectively.
Chris Newsome tallied 22 points for the Bolts who missed active consultant Nenad Vucinic for his banishment on technical fouls entering the last four-minute mark of the contest. (SB)
The Scores :
GINEBRA 94 - Brownlee 23, Holt 17, Abarrientos 16, Rosario 12, Thompson 7, J.Aguilar 6, Ahanmisi 6, Cu 5, Malonzo 0.
MERALCO 87 - Newsome 22, Quinto 16, Hodge 13, Banhcero 12, Black 9, Mitchell 8, Rios 5, Almazan 2, Bates 0.
QUARTERS: 19-22, 37-38, 64-58, 94-87
