Ginebra Comes Back From 18-Point Hole to Shock San Miguel in Game 1

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel once again roared with their never-say-die mantra after clawing back from an 18-point deficit to stun the San Miguel Beermen, 73-71, in Game 1 of the ongoing PBA Philippine Cup semifinals on June 25, 2025, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Down 25-43 in the second quarter, the Gin Kings found themselves in a deep hole after the Beermen waxed hot from the shooting field, burying buckets from almost everywhere on the court for a momentum-boosting 14-0 scoring avalanche.

However, Ginebra found an answer quickly in the remaining five minutes of the second when Scottie Thompson, Troy Rosario, and Jeremiah Gray joined hands to cut SMB’s lead to just six points, 43-37.

Just when the Gin Kings thought that they could sustain their momentum from that massive push late in the second, the Beermen deployed another demoralizing scoring clinic that ballooned their lead back to double digits.

CJ Perez was huge for the Beermen in the first four minutes of the third, draining back-to-back difficult three-pointers and a layup that put SMB ahead by 12 points.

From that sequence, the Gin Kings decided to fight fire with fire and engaged in an uncharacteristic shootout with SMB. Fortunately, their much-needed attempts kissed the net, backstopped by their suffocating defense on June Mar Fajardo who barely made his presence felt on the offensive end.

Ginebra pulled themselves to within a point after a jumper from Japeth Aguilar, that officially shifted the ball game into a single-possession showdown.

The matchup went down to the wire, with San Miguel striking first to hold the fort and bag a six-point lead, 69-63. GSM replied with coast-to-coast baskets that got to within a deuce, 69-67, before Stephen Holt cashed in a dagger three-pointer in the final two minutes that gave them a one-point lead.

Perez didn’t let SMB fold into the pressure as he countered with an aggressive drive to the shaded lane, but that conversion became the Beermen’s final made basket with still 1:42 remaining in the thrilling fourth quarter.

Answering the call for the Gin Kings is Rosario, who put them back into the driver’s seat with two clutch shots from the charity stripe at the 1:20 mark.

Both teams figured into a hot potato in the next 50 seconds of the ball game, but San Miguel had the chance to seal Game 1 with an offensive possession in the final nine seconds.

SMB went to their superstar at the post, but Fajardo’s power move attempt was bothered by Aguilar, who was swarming him before he even got the ball in the left block.

“It is only one game. We got to be playing better than this as the series goes for us to have a chance. It is nice to always get the lead in a series,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone after pulling off the Game 1 win.

Leading the way for Ginebra was the ever-reliable Aguilar who capped off the come-from-behind dub with 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and a block.

Thompson, who ignited Ginebra’s scoring runs in the second and third frames, backstopped Aguilar with 16 markers and eight rebounds.

San Miguel will look to bounce back and even the PBA semifinal series against Ginebra on June 27, 2025, as they are scheduled to clash in the first game of the scheduled doubleheader.