MANILA, Philippines – Scottie Thompson turned into the Grinch and ruined Christmas for Magnolia, leading Barangay Ginebra to a 95-92 escape in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, December 25.

Thompson drained the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to preserve the efforts of import Justin Brownlee and RJ Abarrientos as the Gin Kings got back on track for their fourth victory in six games.

Scoreless in the fourth quarter prior to his clutch shot, Thompson found himself wide open on the corner and sank the triple that allowed Ginebra to complete its fightback.

The win, though, would not have been possible without Brownlee and Abarrientos, who took over in the second half to help the Gin Kings come back from the dead after being down by as many as 22 points, 54-76.

Brownlee finished with a game-high 28 points to go 7 rebounds and 5 assists, while Abarrientos delivered 20 points, 5 assists, 3 steals in his first Christmas game as the two combined for 36 points in the last two salvos.

The duo almost matched the Hotshots’ 37 second-half points.

Abarrientos drained three straight triples to end the third frame as Ginebra sliced its deficit in half to 67-78 then fired 8 more points in the final quarter before setting up Thompson for the shot that sent over 12,000 fans to a frenzy.

Thompson tallied 14 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds.

“RJ just kept making big shot after big shot and you could kind of feel it coming. You could feel the momentum shifting,” said Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone.

“Everybody’s going to remember Scottie’s shot, but it was this guy (Abarrientos) who got the penetration and the kick and the pass to him.”

Troy Rosario added 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks for Ginebra.

Import Ricardo Ratliffe put up a double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds in the loss as Magnolia fell to the Gin Kings for the fourth time in six editions of the Christmas Clasico.

Ratliffe led all scorers at halftime with 11 points but got clamped down by Brownlee the rest of the way, tallying just 2 points in the fourth quarter.

Mark Barroca had 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists for the Hotshots, who fell to 2-5.

The Scores

Barangay Ginebra 95 – Brownlee 28, Abarrientos 20, Rosario 15, Thompson 14, J.Aguilar 8, Holt 5, M. Ahanmisi 5, Tenorio 0, Cu 0, Mariano 0.

Magnolia 92 – Ratliffe 17, Barroca 13, Lee 11, Sangalang 11, Lucero 8, Balanza 8, Dela Rosa 7, Dionisio 6, Lastimosa 6, Abueva 5, J. Ahanmisi 0.

Quarters: 24-30, 41-55, 67-78, 95-92.

– Rappler.com