SMB instills dominance in Game 4 to tie the series against Ginebra

San Miguel showed how mighty they are when they tied the series against Ginebra, 131-121, in the Game 4 of their semi-finals match-up held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
SMB head coach Jorge Gallent was happy that his wards responded to the challenge that they played hard, put more effort and brought a lot of energy for them to win the game.
“I challenged them during our practice yesterday that they need to be strong, put effort, and bring a lot of energy to have a big chance of winning the game. So, kudos to them,” said Gallent in Filipino.
June Mar Fajardo led the Beemen with 29 points, 16 rebounds, and three assists, while import CJ Anosike added 27 markers and CJ Perez contributed 15.
Marcio Lassiter and Don Trollano also scored in double digits with 15 points each.
Meanwhile, Gin Kings coach Tim Cone said that they had no answer to the great performance that SMB threw at them.
“They’re just too good for us tonight. They were firing on all cylinders. We had no answer for them. They were hitting shots from the outside, they were getting to the rim, getting the ball to June Mar. We just didn’t have an answer for them tonight,” according to Cone.
“Basically, it’s back to the drawing boards and we’ll figure out what we could do better next time around,” Cone added.
Justin Brownlee paced the Ginebra with 49 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
Game 5 of the series will be on Friday, October 17, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The Scores:
San Miguel (131) - Fajardo 29, Anosike 27, Perez 20, Lassiter 15, Trollano 15, Romeo 14, Cruz 8, Ross 3.
Ginebra (121) - Brownlee 49, Holt 17, Thompson 15, J.Aguilar 12, Abarrientos 11, Ahanmisi 5, Tenorio 5, Pinto 3, Adamos 2, Devance 2, Cu 0.
Quarter Scores: 34-28; 62-56; 99-85; 131-121.
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