Stephen Holt's lone field goal lifts Ginebra to 18-point comeback vs. SMB in semis

Stephen Holt struggled the entire game, but came through when it mattered most to help Barangay Ginebra eke out a 73–71 comeback win over San Miguel in Game 1 of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup semifinals on Wednesday.

The veteran guard buried a clutch triple — his first and lone field goal of the match — to give the Gin Kings a 70-69 lead late in the fourth after being down by as much as 18 points in the first half.

CJ Perez then continued his brilliance by completing a layup to regain a San Miguel lead, before Troy Rosario calmly sank a pair of free throws for another one-point Ginebra lead, 72-71, with 1:21 left in the game. 

San Miguel had an opportunity to make another desperate comeback after Jamie Malonzo missed two charities but Perez could not secure the rebound. 

Holt then sealed it with a split from the stripe as Ginebra drew first blood in the best-of-seven series. 

"We saw that June Mar [Fajardo] was getting treatment on the sidelines, we took advantage of the time that he was absent on the floor to get back in the game," Ginebra head coach Tim Cone said. 

"When he's on the floor, it's really tough and the good news is we just battled tonight. We didn't play great, we didn't shoot great, we didn't really defend that great."

Japeth Aguilar was also huge for Ginebra, scoring seven points as part of a 15-5 run that allowed Ginebra to turn a 55-41 deficit to just 60-56 advantage heading to the payoff period. 

The seasoned big man then came up big early in the fourth, knocking down two layups to further cut the gap to 69-67 before Holt took over to seal the win. 

Aguilar top-scored with 18 points alongside nine rebounds, two assists, and a block while Scottie Thompson and Malonzo chipped in 16 and 14 markers apiece. 

Holt, who was limited to 1-of-6 from the field, finished with four important points together with seven rebounds, and four dimes. 

Scores:

Barangay Ginebra 73 – J. Aguilar 18, Thompson 16, Malonzo 14, Rosario 7, R.Aguilar 6, Holt 4, Abarrientos 2, Pinto 2, Gray 2, Adamos 2, Ahanmisi 0, David 0.

San Miguel 71– Perez 21, Tiongson 12, Cruz 12, Trollano 9, Fajardo 6, Ross 5, Cahilig 3, Lassiter 3, Brondial 0, Tautuaa 0, Calma 0.

Quarters: 19-29, 37-45, 56-60, 73-71.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News