By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

ACTION resumes in the Philippine Basketball Association with the start this weekend of the semifinals of the Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Following a two-week break to give way to the staging in the country of the just-concluded 30th Southeast Asian Games, the season-ending tournament commences with its Final Four matches which will be best-of-five affairs.

Left standing are the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, Northport Batang Pier, Meralco Bolts and TNT KaTropa.

Barangay Ginebra and Northport battle in one semis bracket while Meralco and TNT slug it out in the other.

The Kings and Batang Pier open the proceedings on Saturday set for 6:30 p.m. at the Big Dome.

Barangay Ginebra, the fourth-seeded team, advanced by defeating the powerhouse San Miguel Beermen in the quarterfinals.

It held a twice-to-beat advantage but saw no need to use it, beating the Beermen, 100-97, in the quarterfinal match on Nov. 24.

Import Justin Brownlee led the Kings to the win with 41 points and 11 rebounds.

Stanley Pringle also had it solid with 24 points and five assists, with LA Tenorio going for 12 and seven.

“It feels good to get a win. That was a good team that we beat. We really wanted to finish the game and move on to the next round. Hopefully we get to build on this win heading into the semifinals,” said Mr. Brownlee after their conquest of the Beermen, who saw their PBA grand slam hopes crushed with the defeat.

Some members of the Kings, including head coach Tim Cone, are coming off a gold medal stint in the SEA Games.

Messrs. Pringle and Tenorio joined forces with teammates Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter in helping the men’s basketball team retain its stranglehold on the sport in the biennial regional sporting meet.

Out to frustrate the Kings are the Batang Pier, who is having it magical in the playoffs.

Northport staved off multiple do-or-die matches on the road to the semifinals, culminating in its upset of top seeds NLEX Road Warriors in the quarterfinals.

Despite holding a twice-to-win disadvantage, it did not stop the eighth-seeded Batang Pier from being giant-killers.

They completed their semifinal quest by outlasting NLEX in an epic win-or-go home match, 126-123, in triple overtime on Nov. 27.

The duo of import Michael Qualls and Christian Standhardinger has been leading the impressive charge of Northport.

Mr. Qualls was steady in their last game against NLEX, finishing with 31 points, 21 rebounds and five blocks in 62 minutes on the floor.

Mid-tournament acquisition Standhardinger was equally impressive in 61 minutes of log time, tallying 33 points, 23 rebounds and seven assists.

Also solid for Northport was veteran Sean Anthony, who had 30 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.

The Batang Pier defeated the Kings in their lone game in the elimination round, 98-96.

BOLTS-KATROPA MATCH
In the other pairing, second seed Meralco and number three team TNT battle it out beginning on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

Both teams had twice-to-beat advantages in the playoffs but advanced outright by downing the Alaska Aces and defending champions Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok, respectively, in the quarterfinals.

Meralco eliminated Alaska, 94-84, on Nov. 24, led by do-it-all import Allen Durham, who had 28 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists in the win.

Allein Maliksi added 23 markers of his own with SEA Games gold medallist Chris Newsome (3×3) scoring 17.

Waiting for the Bolts in the semifinals is TNT, which dethroned erstwhile champion Magnolia with a gutsy 98-97 win in the quarters on Nov. 25.

KJ McDaniels led the KaTropa in the come-from-behind win with 25 points, 17 rebounds and five assists.

Jayson Castro returned from injury to tally 30 points and seven assists with Troy Rosario chipping in 12 points.

Roger Pogoy, however, got injured (back) in said game, leaving his status for the series with Meralco still up in the air.

The KaTropa have had the number of Meralco in the ongoing tournament, beating the latter, 116-113, in their first encounter.

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