MANILA – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings reasserted its mastery of Meralco Bolts as it retained the PBA Governors’ Cup championship in six nerve-wracking finals games.
Ginebra kept in step in the first two quarters before unloading a massive second half assault to finish off Meralco, 103-92, in Game 6 of the race-to-four finale in front of a sell-out crowd at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
LA Tenorio had his best game in the finals series and in the conference with 30 points, while Justin Brownlee heated up in the second half to finish with 24 points, 16 rebounds and six assists.
Christian Standhardinger chipped in with double-double 19 points and 13 rebounds as Finals MVP winner Earl Scottie Thompson ended up with 15 markers for the Gin Kings.
The Bolts started Game 6 with 9-2 scoring run to stay ahead. Tenorio came up with conversions from the outside as the Kings trailed 19-24 after the opening quarter.
Meralco continued its run in the second frame with its biggest lead of seven but Standhardinger and Tenorio anchored Barangay Ginebra’s offense for a 47-all count at the half.
After scoring just two points in the first half, Brownlee went aggressive to start the third period as the Kings finally tasted the lead at 62-59 on back-to-back hits by Thompson.
The Bolts charged back behind Aaron Black to get the lead back at 72-71 but a quick counter from Tenorio and Brownlee surged the Kings ahead 78-73 heading into the fourth.
Ginebra continued its assault in the final quarter as it turned a five-point edge to its biggest advantage of the match at 96-80 on consecutive points from Tenorio, Brownlee and Nard John Pinto.
Meralco made its last push at 88-98 with under two minutes left but a top-of-a-key triple by Tenorio followed by a jumper by Standhardinger sealed Kings’ 14th PBA championship.
Tony Bishop ended up with double-double 21 points and 16 rebounds, while Black and Allein Maliksi chipped in 18 and 15, respectively, for the Bolts, which lost for the fourth time against the Kings in the finals.
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 103 — Tenorio 30, Brownlee 24, Standhardinger 19, Thompson 15, Tolentino 6, Pinto 5, J. Aguilar 2, Chan 2, Mariano 0.
MERALCO 92 — Bishop 21, Black 18, Maliksi 15, Newsome 11, Almazan 11, Banchero 6, Hodge 5, Quinto 5, Belo 0, Caram 0.
Quarterscores: 19-24, 47-47, 83-78, 103-92./PN
