Kings again as Ginebra KOs Meralco
BOCAUE, Bulacan – LA Tenorio’s final act to a conference filled with clutch performances gave the country’s most popular team another championship.
Tenorio scored 26 points, including a key free throw down the stretch as Barangay Ginebra San Miguel weathered Meralco’s late comeback attempt and retained its PBA Governors’ Cup title with a 101-96 victory Friday night before another record-setting crowd at the Philippine Arena.
Majority of the 54,086 fans, a figure that broke the two-day old league mark of 53,642 in Game 6, witnessed Tenorio unload five three-pointers that gave Ginebra a big lead that nearly disappeared when Meralco narrowed the gap to four, 100-96, with 22 seconds remaining.
Tenorio nearly scored the dagger from the right side of the arc but missed. Luckily, Japeth Aguilar made a crucial offensive rebound before Tenorio split his two charities, 14 ticks left, triggering another celebration for Ginebra and its legion of supporters.
Ginebra captured its 10th championship overall and 20th for coach Tim Cone, the league’s winningest mentor.
Three of Cone’s titles were won with Tenorio, who was later named as the Cignal-PBA Press Corps Finals Most Valuable Player. Incidentally, he was named as Finals MVP in all of the three titles he won a pro career that began in 2006.
He had eight points in the first quar- ter that saw Ginebra take a 27-19 lead, shared the scoring load with Greg Slaughter, Justin Brownlee and Mark Caguioa to give their team a 52-37 halftime lead, then put on a scoring exhibition with 10 in the third that kept Meralco at bay.
It appeared there would be no repeat of the Kings’ thrilling finish to last year’s finals when Justin Brownlee ended their eight-year title drought with a buzzer-beating triple. But the Bolts nearly made things exciting yet again after slowly trimming the gap behind hardworking import Allen Durham and Jared Dillinger.
Meralco, however, fell short of erasing that painful defeat, watching Ginebra savoring the winning feeling at their expense.
Brownlee finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Scottie Thompson had 14 points, nine rebounds and five steals and Slaughter claimed his first career pro crown after 12 points and five rebounds.
Durham delivered 26 points, 24 rebounds and nine assists and Dillinger broke out of a shooting slump that hounded him all series long with 20 points.
But Game 6 hero Reynel Hugnatan was held to seven points after firing 24, a disappointing end to a series that saw the veteran emerging after Ranidel de Ocampo went down with an injury.
Tenorio 26, Brownlee 23, Thompson 14, Slaughter 12, Aguilar 10, Devance 10, Caguioa 4, Ferrer 2.
Durham 26, Dillinger 20, Hodge 14, Newsome 11, Caram 9, Hugnatan 7, Amer 6, Lanete 3.
Quarters: 27-19, 52-37, 81-64, 101-96.
BOCAUE, Bulacan – PBA Commissioner Chito Narvasa approved Friday the trade that would send Kia’s No. 1 overall pick on Sunday’s PBA Rookie Draft to San Miguel for three players and a future first-round selection, ending a saga that has caused uproar among fans and other team owners.
Kia was also to ship its right to select first in the draft to San Miguel for veterans Ronald Tubid and Jay-R Reyes, rookie Rashawn McCarthy and a 2019 first-round pick after the two trade proposals were rejected by Narvasa earlier this week.
Narvasa had issued an ultimatum to San Miguel to ship Tubid at the last minute. The Beermen eventually relented, paving the way for the trade to take place.
“Sinabi ko sa kanila na please consider also the sentiments of the fans, they want to see the game na di nila alam sino mananalo,” Narvasa said in a press conference held before Game 7 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals between Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Meralco at the Philippine Arena here.
By hurdling the remaining obstacle in the transaction, the Beermen will be able to get consensus first pick Christian Standhardinger in the draft set at the Robinsons Place in Ermita, Manila.
Standhardinger, the 6-foot-8 Fil-German, earned such distinction after an impressive stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Asia Cup and the Southeast Asian Games last August, though he is expected to miss the Philippine Cup due to contractual obligations with the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions in the ASEAN Basketball League.
Kia’s decision to throw away its best chance at improving from dismal campaigns in all three conferences had led to negative response not only from league followers, but also PBA owners like Alaska’s Wilfred Uytengsu, though the league’s board of governors later said it would back whatever Narvasa’s decision.
Kia team governor Bobby Rosales, however, defended the move, saying its preference to be competitive with veteran players than having to deal with the rebuilding process with Standhardinger under its unusual philosophy.
“Don’t get me wrong, Christian Standhardinger is a great player. The boy has a big potential,” Rosales told reporters at the Azure Hardcourt in Bicutan, Paranaque City where’s Kia holds regular practices.