SAN MIGUEL Beer and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel clash in a do-or-die Game Five on Tuesday in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup semifinal series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen and Kings collide at 7 p.m.
San Miguel stayed alive in the best-of-five semifinal series after a masterful 101-72 rout in Game Four behind the hot shooting hands of Marcio Lassiter.
Lassiter exploded for 25 points to lead the Beermen’s balanced scoring while Ginebra had only two players finishing in double figures.
Justin Brownlee had 28 in their 29-point loss while LA Tenorio made 17.
Japeth Aguilar, the hero in the Kings’ 97-96 victory in Game Three, missed all of his six shots and contributed only one point from the free throw line.
“I’m sure it will be a different ballgame [Game Five]. We just evened the series,” Beermen Head Coach Leo Austria said. Ginebra Head Coach Tim Cone admitted his wards were outworked in Game Four after an emotional encounter in Game Three where Aguilar hit the buzzer-beating game-winner.
“I thought we were worn out from Game Three,” said Cone, who is trying to end the franchise’s eight-year finals stint drought. “They brought their A-game and we can’t keep it up. Our guys, they’re learning how to play these things.”
The Kings were limited to only seven points in the second period after trailing 22-30 in the first quarter, allowing the Beermen to carry a 55-29 halftime lead. There was no let up for San Miguel after that.
“A 30-point loss is just the same as a one-point loss in a series,” said Cone as his wards missed 15 straight attempts in the second period that gave allowed Beermen to pull away.
