Ginebra wins 2nd Govs’ Cup title, holds off Meralco
Barangay Ginebra was hailed back-to-back champions in the PBA Governor’s Cup when they defeated the Meralco Bolts last October 27 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
The Gin Kings celebrating their 2nd title in the Governor's Cup. Photo from PBA Images.
The Winner-Take-All game ended with Barangay Ginebra triumphing over the Bolts with a five-point lead, 101-96.
PBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Player of the Game, LA Tenorio, led the Kings to victory with 26 points and four assists.
Early in the game, the two teams had a close point count until the latter part of the first quarter, with Tenorio and Ginebra import Justin Brownlee carrying the team and ending the quarter with a nine-point lead for the Kings, 27-19.
The second quarter continued in favor of Barangay Ginebra with the Kings easily bypassing the defenses of the Meralco Bolts, further widening the gap up to a 20-point lead, 52-32.
Meralco players, Anjo Caram and Jared Dillinger tried to close the gap with back-to-back scores, but were still buried by a huge lead, 52-37.
After the halftime, both teams continued aggressiveness in the game, with Tenorio earning loud cheers from the crowd with his three-point shots, and Meralco trying but failing to catch up at the end of the quarter with 81-64.
By the fourth quarter, the Meralco Bolts began building up a momentum; with Dillinger, Baser Amer, and Meralco import Allen Durham scoring two and three points during the quarter until Caram’s back-to-back shots closes the gap with nine points, 94-85.
Bolts’ Cliff Hodge also got fouled out of the game during the fourth quarter.
With about 40 seconds left, the Bolts closed the once huge gap to four points, 100-96, but failed to take a hold of the conference title in the end.
Ginebra’s Head Coach, Tim Cone, earned his 20th PBA title with this game, and was hailed as the Winningest Coach in PBA History.
The Ginebra Kings took its first repeat and 10th PBA title overall in front of 54,086 audience, the largest in the attendance record of PBA.
SCORES:
Ginebra (101) – Tenorio 26, Brownlee 23, Thompson 14, Slaughter 12, Devance 10, Aguilar 10, Caguioa 4, Ferrer 2.
Meralco (96) – 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.
