San Miguel staves off Ginebra comeback to re-enter PBA winning column

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The San Miguel Beermen showed poise under pressure and remained calm when the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel clawed their way back from a double-digit deficit, 95-82, in the ongoing PBA Commissioner’s Cup last December 15, 2023.

With the win, San Miguel just snapped its two-game losing streak and re-entered the PBA winning sheet despite the absence of superstar June Mar Fajardo who is still dealing with a minor injury.

The Beermen immediately established their footing in the game after taking control of the opening quarter courtesy of their waxing hot offense.

San Miguel’s high-octane scoring made things worse in the second quarter as their advantage suddenly ballooned to as much as 18 points with newly-acquired guard Don Trollano leading the way for the Beermen.

During that momentum-clinching stretch, Trollano dropped 12 of his 16 total points in the second quarter alone and pulled off one of the most efficient debuts in San Miguel history.

San Miguel looked to blow the game wide open after their cushion swelled to as much as 24 points in the third quarter but Ginebra’s signature never-say-die attitude rose to the occasion once again.

From trailing by double digits, Ginebra sank much-needed baskets at the start of the final canto to trim their deficit to just a single digit.

The Gin Kings then officially put themselves back in the ball game at the 5:22 mark after import Tony Bishop drilled a clutch three-pointer that got them to within four points, 79-75.

However, an unfortunate stretch doomed the Gin Kings as that trey by Bishop became their last basket and went on a scoreless drought in the next four minutes of action.

San Miguel capitalized on Ginebra’s cold shooting and closed the show off Jericho Cruz and Chris Ross’ three-point shooting.

Ross turned back the hands of time and top-scored the Beermen with 22 markers built from six three-pointers while Cruz chipped in 16 points.

Meanwhile, the debuting Trollano didn’t need any warm-up suiting up a new jersey and contributed 16 points for the Beermen squad.

Bishop had a solid all-around game for the Gin Kings after tallying 20 points, nine rebounds, and eight steals but his performance wasn’t enough to help Ginebra complete the come-from-behind win.