BARANGAY Ginebra was the first team in the semis of the PBA Governors’ Cup after completing a three-game sweep of Meralco in their best-of-five quarterfinals series.
Behind a sizzling fourth-quarter shooting, the Kings climbed their way back from a 78-66 deficit to take Game 3 on Monday night, 113-106, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Coach Tim Cone and the rest of the team now await the winner of the series between San Miguel and Converge.
The FiberXers avoided getting swept as they pulled off an improbable 114-112 win behind the jumper of Alec Stockton at the buzzer after trailing by as many as 27 points in Game 3.
The Beermen still lead the series, 2-1, with Game 4 set to be played on Friday also at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Here are the takeaways in a rare Monday night PBA doubleheader.
1. GINEBRA STILL HAS MERALCO’S NUMBER – the Kings continue to dominate the Bolts in their head-to-head matchup. Ginebra has previously beaten Meralco in four Governors’ Cup finals encounter, and now just completed a rare sweep of the reigning All-Filipino champions. In a way, this was the Kings’ payback against the Bolts, who dealt their old rival a 78-69 beating in their do-or-die Game 7 during the Philippine Cup semifinals, which eventually led to Meralco winning its first-ever championship in franchise history.
2. ALLEN DURHAM STILL IN SEARCH FOR A FIRST PBA TITLE – the Meralco loss kept Durham still in search for his first ever PBA championship 10 years after first blowing into town and suiting up for the Barako Bull. This one marks the earliest exit for the former three-time Best Import in a Meralco uniform as he previously played for the Bolts in three finals appearances against Ginebra. He even got his first title in the Japan B.League with the Ryukyu Golden Kings faster than with the Bolts in the PBA. At 36 years old, the door is obviously closing for the wide-bodied import, whose future with the Meralco franchise hangs in the balance following the latest setback by the team.
3. CONVERGE SCORES FIRST PLAYOFFS WIN IN STIRRING FASHION – no one saw it coming especially after Converge trailed by as many as 27 points against a star-studded San Miguel team. But the FiberXers kept the faith and battled their way back by burying the Beermen for 48 points in the fourth quarter on their way to scoring the first playoffs victory in franchise history. This marked the fourth playoffs appearance for Converge, losing its previous three stints, including two at the hands of San Miguel. The dramatic win obviously erased the stigma of those losses against the mighty Beermen.
4. BEERMEN DON’T KNOW WHAT HIT THEM – even the San Miguel team was at a loss on what exactly happened in perhaps the most distressing loss in its proud history. June Mar Fajardo, the leading contender for the Best Player of the Conference, was held to just a single point in the fourth quarter, while no one among the Beermen appeared to have an answer when the FiberXers went on a scoring rampage in the final quarter. The San Miguel coaching staff had a long talk outside of the team dugout before calling it a night.
5. MORE PBA REFS TO BE SANCTIONED – A day after Game 3 of the Rain or Shine-Magnolia quarterfinals series at the Ynares Center in Antipolo where a goal-tending infraction was missed by a game official with 10 seconds left in overtime, another officiating blunder was committed when the flagrant foul 2 called on Stockton was downgraded to flagrant foul 1, allowing the Converge Fil-Am guard to stay in the game, and ironically, hit the game winning shot. Commissioner Willie Marcial already ordered the suspension of the two referees involved, one of which was for the rest of the conference.
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