MANILA, Philippines – Barangay Ginebra turned an expected thriller of a sudden death into a long, painful dismantling of reigning champion San Miguel Beer, 117-92, last night for a return trip to the finals after a spell of three years.
It was an anti-climactic showdown of a series that ebbed and flowed between the sister teams in the first four games in their side of the PBA Governors Cup Final Four at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Gin Kings showed heart and desire to secure the win for most of the more than 20,000 fans who never got tired of chanting G-I-N-E-B-R-A and the team responded with a murderous run, coming away with the 25-point romp to seal a best-of-seven finale against early finalist the Meralco Bolts.
Ginebra, back in the finals for the first time since the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup, and Meralco, a first-time finalist, begin their title playoff Friday, also at the Big Dome.
The Beermen wheeled back with a wondrous touch from the outside in the second quarter built around a 24-0 run, closing in at 38-45 at the end of the first half.
Two huge quarters – 33 points in the first and 36 in the third – propelled the Kings back to the finals, with a shot to end an eight-year title drought.
Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, LA Tenorio, Sol Mercado all dished out superb performances to carry Ginebra to a big comeback from a stinging 29-point loss in Game Four.
“After that loss in Game Four, I thought we didn’t have a chance to win Game Five. But the guys came through with an incredible effort. It’s such a nice redemptive win. To come out here like this is really a redemption,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
Cone said the big difference was the team coming out aggressively and their lockdown defense on June Mar Fajardo whom they held to just seven points.
Brownlee churned out a near triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and was the main guy that neutralized Fajardo with Tenorio providing the double-team.
Thompson and Mercado both bounced back hard from a scoreless showing the last time out with the former dishing out a career-high 25 points and 15 rebounds and the latter sizzling with 22 markers, including five three-pointer bombs.
“Scottie was incredible. I asked him to shoot whether he makes it or not. The point is he must be aggressive. He missed his first shot then got fired-up. And he made everybody contagious. It’s like mushrooms,” said Cone.
Tenorio was just as huge with a near triple-double with 18 points, 10 assists and six rebounds in a near no-relief game.
With over five minutes to go, San Miguel coach Leo Austria started to pull out his core players and took a chance on their reserves, to no avail.
After wavering in the second quarter, the Kings worked on another huge attack in the third and sustained the effort to the finish.
Ginebra led by seven at the end of a bizarre opening half marked by a huge salvo by the Kings in the first quarter and an even bigger unanswered run by the Beermen in the second period.
The Kings broke away at 37-12 on a 23-to-nothing roll then the Beermen quickly got back in the game, 36-37, on a 24-0 counterattack – the third all-time longest unanswered run in the league.
Thompson and Mercado presided over their early breakaway, combining for 24 points in the opening period.
Then Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter led the way in SMB’s second-quarter fightback, highlighting their blitzkrieg with five three-pointers.
The Beermen battled back into the game despite a mere one-point output from Fajardo in the first half.
But the Kings came out smoking again in the third and roared all the way to their return to PBA finals.