MANILA, Philippines – San Miguel just won’t give the title of the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup to defending champion Barangay Ginebra without a fight.
One good fight that is.
The Finals of the season-ending conference now boils down to one game as the Beermen beat the Kings, 98-84, Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum for a 3-3 standoff in the best-of-seven series.
Game 7 is set Friday also at the Big Dome.
Facing what could have been a horrible ending in a tournament they were projected to conquer, the Beermen responded to the pressure by holding down Ginebra’s ace guard Jayjay Helterbrand to just eight points while at the same time choking the Gin Kings to only a 6-for-25 (24 percent) shooting at the three-point range.
“We haven’t done anything yet," said SMB coach Siot Tanquingcen. “God put us in this situation to test us. It’s how you respond to adversity that defines you. This thing is far from over. We have one game to go."
Gabe Freeman recovered from early foul trouble once more to finish with 24 points and 12 rebounds while Danny Ildefonso came off the bench to contribute 18 points as San Miguel forged only the 18th Game 7 in a championship series in PBA history.
Helterbrand, bothered by his hamstring injury, shot a miserable 0-for-5 from downtown. Since the second quarter of Game 4, his clip in that region has been 1-for-15.
David Noel led the Gin Kings with 16 points and 11 rebounds. He, however, failed to make a field goal in the two-point area and was held scoreless in the second quarter and to only two in the final period.
“It will all boil down who makes the shots in Game 7," said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico, not necessarily feeling bad about the outcome on a very special day when he turned 47. “It would have been nice had we won tonight. But I’m already happy with the success we had and the blessings that I have."
Witnessed by 16,039 fans, mostly Ginebra fans, the game was tense until San Miguel tore the game apart in the second and third quarters. The Beermen led by 10 after the first half and then stretched it to its biggest at 15 (61-46) on a dunk by Freeman with 5:29 left in the third period.
Ginebra’s best effort was to cut it down to within 64-61 on an Erik Menk basket. But the Beermen scored the last four points of the period before coming through with a 9-4 run to take total control, 79-65.
San Miguel again outrebounded Ginebra 47-39 and had more assists 18-13. – GMANews.TV
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