Defending PBA Governors' Cup champions Barangay Ginebra kept their hopes alive after a 104-92 win over TNT Tropang Giga in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Justin Brownlee topscored for the Gin Kings with 38 points and 12 rebounds, but it was flashy guard Scottie Thompson who had a highlight game - finishing with 23 markers, 15 boards, and eight assists.
The fifth seed Ginebra opened the game with a wide 28-14 lead in the first quarter, but the fourth seed TNT had been consistent with their efforts to close the gap in the next two periods.
In the fourth quarter, Brownlee and Thompson took over the scoring cudgels to give the reigning Governors' Cup titlists a comfortable advantage leading to the final buzzer.
Ginebra head coach Tim Cone expressed satisfaction with his team's performance, adding it is their first win against TNT since they beat the Manny Pangilinan-owned squad for the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup title.
"All we did was even out the odds. They had overwhelmingly big odds coming to this series and now we have those odds in place. They're still the favorites," Cone said during the post-game press conference.
Aaron Fuller led TNT with 22 points and 19 rebounds while Troy Rosario added 20 markers for the Chot Reyes-mentored squad, which lost its twice-to-beat quarterfinals advantage - just like sister team NLEX in the first game.
The Gin Kings and the Tropang Giga will face off again on Saturday for the semifinals seat.
The Scores:
GINEBRA 104 – Brownlee 38, Thompson 23, J. Aguilar 21, Tenorio 7, Standhardinger 6, Pinto 6, Chan 3, Onwubere 0, Devance 0, Caperal 0
TNT 92 – Fuller 22, Rosario 20, M.Williams 19, Pogoy 12, K.Williams 12, Castro 5, Montalbo 0, Erram 0, Reyes 0, Khobuntin 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0
Quarterscores: 28-14, 50-45, 71-70, 104-92
