WHILE the Talk N Text-Rain or Shine semifinal series is now 2-0, the.San Miguel Beer-Barangay Ginebra showdown is back to square one.

Terrence Romeo, the nearly-forgotten San Miguel hero, made sure about it.

Romeo rediscovered his old, deadly self as San Miguel held off Barangay Ginebra,

131-125, in overtime to even their highly-anticipated best-of-seven matchup at one win apiece

Romeo went a perfect 5-of-5 from the three-point territory and 1-of-1 from the four-point range as he poured 22 of his 26 points in the payoff peripd.

That included 13 points in the fourth quarter and nine markers in overtime.

Import EJ Anosike led the way for the Beermen with 35 points and nine rebounds while CJ Perez added a near triple-double of 28 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Jorge Gallent- mentored Beermen.

And eight-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo?

Fajardo had another monster 20-20 game with 23 points, 21 rebounds and six assists in 44 minutes of action.

. Marcio Lassiter chipped in 12 points.

Barangay Ginebra resident import Justin Brownlee tipscored with 39 points

on 15-of-30 shooting on top of 15 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and four blocks in 50 minutes of action.

But Brownlee’s best was not enough to lead the Gin Kings of coach Tim Cone.

Veteran Japeth Aguilar added 29 points and eight rebounds while Scottie Thompson had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Maverick Ahanmisi and Stephen Holt contributed with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

In the final five minutes of regulation, Thompson tied the game at 97-97 after Barangay Ginebra had trailed by 11 earlier in the fourth quarter.

Brownlee gave Ginebra a three-point lead with 3:08 left after completing a four-point play, but Romeo grabbed the offensive rebound off Perez’s missed three-point attempt and sank his own

triple to cut the deficit to one, 102-103, with 1:16 remaining.

Anosike’s reverse layup gave the Beermen a 104-103 lead with 41 seconds remaining, but Brownlee responded with a contested three-pointer over Anosike, putting Ginebra ahead 106-104 with 35 seconds left.

Perez tied the game with 31 seconds remaining, but Brownlee responded with an acrobatic layup to give Ginebra the lead again with 18 seconds left.

However, Perez made a four-point play on Lassiter’s offensive rebounds to give San Miguel a 110-108 lead, but Ahanmisi was fouled by Romeo and sank two crucial free throws to tie the game.

In overtime, Romeo scored nine straight points to give the Beermen a 121-117 lead with 2:06 remaining in the extra period.

Both teams were engaged in a back-and-forth exchange, but San Miguel held on as Anosike and Jericho Cruz sealed the victory.

The scores;

San Miguel (131) — Anosike 35, Perez 28, Romeo 26, Fajardo 23, Lassiter 12, Cruz 5, Tautuaa 2, Ross 0, Rosales 0, Trollano 0, Enciso 0, Manuel 0.
Ginebra (125) — Brownlee 39, J.Aguilar 29, Thompson 16, Ahanmisi 15, Holt 14, Abarrientos 4, Tenorio 3, Cu 2, Devance 2, Pinto 1, Pessumal 0, Adamos 0.
Quarterscores: 22-24, 51-47, 85-76, 110-110, 131-125.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Robert Andaya