Barangay Ginebra came back from 18 points down to produce a thrilling 73-71 victory over San Miguel Beer to draw first blood in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series on Wednesday at SM Mall of Asia Arena.

A three from Stephen Holt and two free throws from Troy Rosario gave the Gin Kings two one-point leads late in the contest before Japeth Aguilar came through by blocking June Mar Fajardo in the waning moments as the Gin Kings produced a trademark comeback.

That put the crowd favorites ahead in the best-of-seven series and will try to make it in a row over their sister team on Friday at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Aguilar had 18 points and nine rebounds while a banged-up Scottie Thompson put up 16 points and eight rebounds for the Gin Kings.

Barangay Ginebra Stephen Holt and Scottie Thompson during a PBA Philippine Cup semifinals game between the Gin Kings and the San Miguel Beermen. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Ginebra also got a key contribution from hardly-used Raymond Aguilar, who scored six points in eight minutes when he was put in by coach Tim Cone after Japeth got into foul trouble.

CJ Perez scored 21 points on top of seven rebounds, but San Miguel couldn’t sustain a 43-25 lead which it built in the second quarter.

Fajardo was held to six points on 3-of-10 from the field, but appeared to be limping off at some point during the contest. He also grabbed 19 rebounds for the defeated Beermen.

Ginebra tied the count at 60-all on Raymond Aguilar’s layup but San Miguel got the lead back behind CJ Perez at 69-61.

The Gin Kings did answer with nine straight points, ending on Holt’s triple to go in front 70-69. Perez responded with a layup before Rosario nailed two foul shots for 72-71, setting the stage for the cardiac finish.