BARANGAYS ROAR G-I-N-E-B-R-A
The King is dead. Long live the Kings. In a title series that ran true to form in shattering finishes save for one game, the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings dethroned, destroyed, demolished the San Miguel Beermen, 93-77, to claim the PBA Commissioner’s Cup crown before a boisterous crowd of nearly 24,000 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay last night.
The Kings secured the reign, their third straight, with a rapid fire onslaught and tough defense that led to a decisive 27-8 run for a 62-46 bulge in the third quarter sparked by import Justine Brownlee and title playoff MVP Scottie Thompson.
And then Ginebra called on its barangay fans to savor the last of the series’ “triumphant feasts.”
The Kings faced stern tests from their scary 1-5 tournament start to their back-to-back blowout losses early in the title series. They survived all these to complete an amazing rally from the bottom of the team standings to the top of the heap.
It’s their third crown in the last six conference and 11th in all from the Robert Jaworski era.
Brownlee and Thompson both churned out a performance to remember and anchored a mighty second-half onslaught that flattened San Miguel and ended the Beermen’s unbeaten ride in PBA Finals in the last four years.
The Beermen suffered their first defeat in seven finals under coach Leo Austria.
Brownlee went almost unstoppable, coming through with 31 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists in a near triple-double game while Thompson had his electrifying game with 13 big rebounds that went with 12 markers and five dish-offs.
Greg Slaughter once again held his own against June Mar Fajardo while LA Tenorio and Joe Devance also played key roles as the Kings made a searing breakaway from 35-38 down at the half to claim a 4-2 win in the best-of-seven series.
Thompson, with sterling showings in the last two games, collected averages of 10.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists, and won the Finals MVP award.
At the awards rites, the winning coach gave credit to all his players and to their diehards that thronged the playing venue in each game in the series.
“You made the big difference. We came back because of you. You kept pushing us, and so we’re back as champs,” said coach Tim Cone in addressing the crowd.
Brownlee, Thompson, Tenorio, Slaughter and Devance teamed up to open a 62-46 lead at the end of the third, with their fiery run wildly cheered on by their mammoth crowd.
The Kings proved relentless and made it a 22-point game at the start of the fourth against a suddenly helpless SMB side.
Midway through the fourth, the question was which could stop Brownlee and his teammates in their defense of their crown in the Governors Cup.
“We’ll celebrate tonight, find some rest will then be ready for the next conference,” said Brownlee.
The Kings are now three-time champs under Cone.
The scores: Ginebra 93 – Brownlee 31, Slaughter 13, Thompson 12, Tenorio 11, Chan 10, Mercado 6, Ferrer 5, Devance 4, J. Aguilar 1.
San Miguel 77 – Fajardo 29, Balkman 24, Heruela 11, Cabagnot 6, Santos 5, Pessumal 2, Ross 0, Lassiter 0, Rosser 0, Vigil 0, Standhardinger 0.
Quarterscores: 14-17, 35-38, 62-46, 93-77