Deeper bench key to title series

MANILA, Philippines - After a San Miguel Beer blowout in the series opener and a Barangay Ginebra cliffhanger in the next, the PBA Philippine Cup Finals could be headed for a long, excruciating series where fortunes could swing in favor of  the team with the deeper bench.

“This is the best case scenario, that the series is tied 1-1,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone after his wards barely pulled off a thrilling 124-118 overtime win after blowing a huge 26-point bulge in the first half of Game Two Sunday.

That leveled their best-of-seven series after the Beermen flattened the Gin Kings with an emphatic 109-82 rout in Game One last Friday.

With a two-day breather, both sides are expected to draw up tactical plans to surprise the other when they resume their face-off at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tomorrow.

“We’re getting to the third game, and both teams are going to have to reach deep into their benches,” said Cone.

The bench did play a big role in Game Two where Ginebra proved steadier in the clutch while pouncing on the depleted SMB roster that saw two of its starters leave the game on ejection and foul woes.

But despite losing Marcio Lassiter and June Mar Fajardo, the Beermen fought back like true warriors with Ronald Tubid stepping up with back-to-back triples in the clutch and nearly pulling it off for the Beermen if not for a flubbed charity shot.

The second half and the extra period of Game Two also showed the resiliency and hunger of teams in a war of attrition.

The Beermen actually blew what could have been a record comeback in a final game. Despite the loss, they headed back to Manila satisfied with what they’d shown to PBA fans at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena.

“We’re looking at the positive side – that we’re able to come back from a 26-point deficit, we found solace in that,” said SMB skipper Arwind Santos. 

“There’s satisfaction there because it shows how hungry we are. We never give up,” said Lassiter, who led the way in their third-quarter fightback before being ejected for technical infractions.

Ginebra also never gave up. Two down with 3.2 seconds to go, Joe Devance came through with a tough putback off his own miss in the dying seconds, forcing extension at 110.

Then Japeth Aguilar, Scottie Thompson and Sol Mercado joined forces in overtime to clinch the win.

Cone wasn’t surprised by the SMB comeback.

“It just goes to show how good San Miguel is in terms of their ability to come back from a 24-point halftime deficit. They just dominated us in the third quarter and most of the fourth,” Cone said. “The only good thing we did is we were resilient. We fought with the ups and down, and we continued to battle. We found a way to put it into overtime.”

The Kings played an amazing first half before the Beermen battled back with a superb final half fightback.

“We played absolutely perfect basketball in the first half. We were awesome in the first half,” said Cone on their great start that had them leading by 26 at 65-39.

But just as they thought they heard the last of the Beermen, the defending back-to-back champions roared back to turn that match into a thriller.