Stephen Holt shakes off offensive struggles to propel Ginebra to ‘miraculous’ win

MANILA, Philippines – When it came down to winning time, Stephen Holt refused to let his team down.

Holt hit arguably the biggest shot of his Barangay Ginebra career, sending the Gin Kings to the semifinals of the PBA Philippine Cup following a classic 99-98 overtime win over Converge at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, December 29.

Firing blanks all game long, Holt drained the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer as Ginebra overcame a twice-to-win disadvantage to reach the final four for the eighth straight conference.

“I just want to win, do whatever I can to win. Obviously I was struggling on the offensive end with my shot, but my guys gave me a lot of confidence and when I had that opportunity at the end of the game, I knew I had to step up for my team and make it,” said Holt.

Before his game-winner, Holt had made just 2 of his 9 field goals, including 1 of 7 from beyond the arc.

So it was not a surprise why the last shot was not supposed to be his, with the Gin Kings initially wanting RJ Abarrientos — who exploded for a career-high 35 points in their 105-85 Game 1 victory — to either go for the tie or the win.

But as Abarrientos found himself doubled teamed, Holt rose to the occasion.

With time winding down, Holt faked MJ Garcia and fired a triple that hit nothing but net just before time expired as he finished with 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.

“I love our team, I love our spirit. We’ve been through so much adversity this season, ups and downs, but I feel like we’re finally playing our best basketball of the season. And that’s the most important time, it’s the playoffs,” said Holt.

“I just wanted to step up for my team because I feel like we deserve this.”

The shot encapsulated the Gin Kings’ never-say-die brand as they survived the fouling out of veterans Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar in regulation and fought through even when the game had already looked beyond reach.

Converge grabbed a commanding 95-89 lead off a gutsy Juan Gomez de Liaño with only 1:40 minutes to play, but Ginebra chiseled away at its deficit and got within striking distance, allowing Holt to wrest the win from the FiberXers’ grasp.

In the fourth quarter, the Gin Kings also trailed 83-86 with under 10 seconds remaining before Jeremiah Gray got fouled on a three-pointer and went on to sink all of his three free throws that forced an extra period.

“It felt miraculous to me. When it comes down to it, our guys fought and our guys battled. We didn’t play a great game tonight, we didn’t have everything tonight, but we just kept battling and battling and finding a way to win,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.

Cone said Holt reminded him of his former Alaska player Jojo Lastimosa, one of the greatest PBA players who earned the moniker “Mr. Clutch” for his endgame heroics.

“Jojo was obviously a great player, played great all the time. But in the nights that he struggled, he always came up big either in some kind of capacity. That’s why we just stayed with Stephen because we knew he was going to step up at some point,” said Cone.

“And boy did he. Wow. But that’s not the first time for him, he’s been doing it all conference.”

The Gin Kings will continue to lean on Holt as they battle defending champion San Miguel in a best-of-seven semifinals. – Rappler.com