Barangay Ginebra San Miguel won Game 1 in a blowout, 122-105, as Justin Brownlee and Stephen Holt combined for 63 points. Can the San Miguel Beermen respond?
Catch the game this Friday, October 11th, at 7:30 PM, Manila time.
San Miguel Beermen (0-1)
Projected starting five:
- Jericho Cruz
- CJ Perez
- EJ Anosike
- Marcio Lassiter
- June Mar Fajardo
Coming off a tough quarterfinals series against the Converge FiberXers, San Miguel appeared mentally and physically gassed in Game 1, simply unable to keep up with Ginebra.
The usual suspects still contributed the most for the Beermen. Import EJ Anosike tallied 27 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and a pair of steals, PBA three-point king Marcio Lassiter had 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo posted a double-double of 16 points and 16 rebounds, and CJ Perez chipped in 13 points and four assists. It’s good on most nights, but not on a semifinals stage vs. Ginebra, especially when you don’t show up on defense too.
That said, Fajardo and Perez are clearly the two who need to step up the most. Both were not up to par in terms of energy. Key guard Terrence Romeo from the second unit was basically irrelevant as well as was only 2-of-9 for six points.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (1-0)
Projected starting five:
- Scottie Thompson
- Maverick Ahanmisi
- Stephen Holt
- Justin Brownlee
- Japeth Aguilar
Ginebra had a nice rest after making quick work of rival Meralco Bolts in the quarterfinals, 3-0. The guys came into the semis opener with guns blazing and just overwhelmed their sister squad. The Gin Kings shot a smooth 55% from the floor (12-of-29 from three), and gave out 32 assists, while only turning it over nine times.
Import Justin Brownlee scored neatly again with a game-high 33 points, 16 of which came from the four-point line, all efficiently done in just 28 minutes of action. It got better because the no. 2 scorer for the night was Stephen Holt, who had 30 points in what was one of his best performances of the conference, where he’s been consistently inconsistent. We’ll see if he can carry that over for Friday or disappear yet again.
Rookie RJ Abarrientos was serviceable with 13 points and five assists, while former MVP Scottie Thompson had 10 points and 10 dimes. Japeth Aguilar only mustered nine points in 32 minutes, but he mostly stepped back for Brownlee and Holt, who are both in fuego. We should see Aguilar be featured more again soon.
PICKS:
Spread: San Miguel (+3)
Over/Under: Over (213)
