MANILA, Philippines - The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel is your 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup Champions! Ginebra survived Meralco’s late scary run in the final canto as they sent the Bolts home, 101-96 on Friday, October 27, 2017 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
This is it! Meralco vs Ginebra in a do-or-die game, win or go home! Good sign for Ginebra as they bucketed the first basket followed by a Meralco turnover and a long three pointer from Justin Brownlee.
Ginebra clogged the shaded area to prevent Allen Durham from muscling his way up and limit the Bolts to shoot from the lower percentage angles. Despite the glue-tight defense, Meralco managed to stay close with Ginebra in the early phase of the opening quarter.
Ginebra looked scary in the first period as the Kings drained multiple treys and scored a handful in the paint. In contrast, Meralco started to shoot blanks and committed more turnovers which Ginebra converted into fast break points that lead to 27-19 advantage after the first 12 minutes.
Barangay Ginebra continued to rain threes and block shots as they began the 2nd period. To his dismay, Coach Norman Black immediately called a timeout to stop the bleeding.
In Spite of the timeout, Ginebra still surged and Meralco kept on missing. Worried and anxious, Coach Black burned another time out to find a solution to Ginebra’s unstoppable offensive onslaught.
Reynel Hugnatan ended the scoring dry spell in the 4-minute mark as he sank a floater. However, the Bolts trailed 19 big points with plenty of time remaining before the half ended.
Jared Dillinger was the only brave Bolt who kept on fighting until the 1st half wrapped up as he managed to cut the lead to 15, 52-37. Dillinger unleashed 11 points while veteran Ginebra guard LA Tenorio topped all scorers with 13 at the halftime break.
Allen Durham, this conference’s Best Import might have met his kryptonite. “The Hulk” surprisingly jotted only 6 points as he entered the third. Durham even got blocked multiple times and had butterfingers that cause turnovers.
In the contrary, Ginebra got nothing but all good looks in all sides of the floor whether from the inside or outside. Barangay escalated its lead to 20 with just 2 minutes gone by in the beginning of the 3rd period.
Allen Durham who was an obvious sleeper in the first half completed a dunk and one plus a triple as a retaliation to Ginebra’s scoring barrage. Fact, Allen Durham’s triple at the 8-minute mark was his first in the series after 18 attempts.
LA Tenorio was simply uncontainable in this game. The former Ateneo Eagle already had 21 point with 14 more minutes to go in the ballgame. His fellow alumnus Chris Newsome however, had a bad night with only 4.
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Ladies and gentlemen, your 2017 Governors Cup Finals MVP: LA “Tenyente” Tenorio! Tenorio finished with game-high 26 points backed-up by Justin Brownlee who had 23. Photo Credit: Philstar |
Tenyente Tenorio closed the third with another jump shot for the 81-64 lead.
The Bolts somehow got closer to Ginebra and was able to lower the lead to just a dozen, courtesy of guards Anjo Caram and Baser Amer. But Meralco couldn't really get its momentum. Every time Meralco had a run, it will only be momentarily as Ginebra promptly fired back.
Anjo Caram’s 2 fast break points broke the Ginebra double-digit lead and placed his team behind by just 9 points with over 4 minutes remaining in the game. Coach Tim Cone, bothered by Meralco’s run, requested for a ceasefire to talk things over.
The 2-minute warning was announced by the coliseum barker with Meralco’s hope in winning the crown was slowly dimming as Ginebra’s lead was escalated to double figures anew.
With 71 ticks remaining in the ballgame, Cliff Hodge got fouled out and Ginebra’s lead was 7, 100-93.
Jared Dillinger’s three pointer cut the lead to just 4 with 40 seconds left in the game clock. Meralco posted a 7-0 blitz and saw a tiny chance of upsetting Ginebra.
Meralco had its chance but it was too late. At the final horn, Barangay Ginebra ended the series 4-3 with a nail-biting 101-96 win over the brave Meralco Bolts in front of 54,086 die hard PBA fans.
Watch full video replay.
On behalf of The Summit Express, we congratulate the Barangay Ginebra for winning the 2017 Governors Cup Finals for the 2nd straight. Never Say Die!
— Joey Boy Capos, The Summit Express