Gin Kings defend throne
Survive Bolts’ Game 7 challenge to retain Gov Cup title
Barangay Ginebra survived Meralco's Game 7 challenge, taking a final 101-96 victory in The Rematch to capture a second straight PBA Governors' Cup title yesterday at the Philippine Arena.
Losing a 20-point, started to give Game 7 the second-half lead, the Gin Kings drama it deserved. had to stand tough in the fourth Allen Durham first hit two quarter as the Bolts threatened free throws to cut the deficit to to steal the championship single digits. Scottie away. Thompson missed two free
However, a couple of big throws for Ginebra on the other plays from Japeth Aguilar of all end and Chris Newsome people, managed to help scored a putback to put the Ginebra hold on for the win in Bolts to within seven, 93-100, front of 54,086 fans, the biggest with 1:12 to go. crowd in PBA history. Joe Devance missed
Ginebra appeared safe another pair of free throws for after Joe Devance's floater put the Gin Kings and Jared the Gin Kings up, 100-89, with Dillinger hit a booming triple 1:39 to go. However, that's to with 47 seconds left to cut when Meralco's true final stand Ginebra's lead to four, 96-100.
With the Bolts trapping Justin Brownlee, the Ginebra import barely avoided a backing violation to keep the possession going for the defending champions. Aguilar then grabbed the biggest rebound of the game, picking up a miss by Tenorio with 24 seconds to go to force a Meralco foul.
LA split his charities and the Bolts got nothing in the last 22 seconds as Ginebra won The Rematch, walking away with the title anew at the expense of Meralco.
Despite scoring only the points in the fourth, all from free throws, Finals MVP LA Tenorio fired 26 to lead Ginebra. Justin Brownlee had a fine all-around game to back him up, going for 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Scottie Thompson scored 14 and grabbed nine rebounds while Greg Slaughter had 12. Japeth Aguilar and Joe Devance finished with 10 points apiece.
After a terrible performance in Game 6, the Gin Kings came out hot in Game 7 led by Tenorio.
Ginebra started to pull away in the second quarter, unloading a 15-0 run for a 48-29 lead. The pounding continued well in the second half, pushing to lead to 20 points multiple times.
However, Meralco finally started to get it going in the fourth period, starting its comeback around the five minute mark.
Anjo Caram was an unlikely hero for the Bolts as his back-toback fastbreak layups, got the Bolts to single digits for the first time in the first quarter, 85-94, with 4:11 to go.
With Meralco looking to continue marching, Japeth Aguilar made good of his turnover just seconds earlier by blocking Chris Newsome at the basket. Newsome makes that layup and the Bolts are all of a sudden down only seven with 3:39 left.