PBA: Gin Kings survive Beermen rally to win Game 1
MANILA, Philippines – Defending champion Barangay Ginebra didn’t budge in the face of a big San Miguel endgame comeback and went on to win Game 1 of the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup finals, 102-96, Wednesday night before a full house crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.
Ronald Tubid hit a critical follow-up off his own miss and then knocked down four straight free throws as the Kings, underdogs in this series, took a psychologically-boosting triumph in their drive to become the first team to repeat as Fiesta Conference champions.
“Anything can still happen," said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico. “We’re still a long way. You must consider that talent of San Miguel. Next time it’s another story."
Tubid finished with 14 points and Jay-Jay Helterbrand had a game-high 21 points on an 8-of-18 shooting. Cyrus Baguio came off the bench to scatter 17 for the Kings, which unusually posted a 45-43 edge in rebounds against the tall Beermen.
Ginebra even had 20 coming off the offensive boards.
Ginebra led by as many as 18 points (81-63) on a triple from Sunday Salvacion. Then, San Miguel came back strong in the fourth period and chopped down the lead to four points, the last at 96-92 on a Jonas Villanueva basket.
The Beermen had a key chance to cut it further, but Dondon Hontiveros committed a traveling violation with 54.5 seconds left before Tubid knocked in the shot of the night.
Gabe Freeman ended San Miguel’s scoring but Tubid answered at the other end with free throws.
The Kings shocked the Beermen by controlling the tempo of the game early. Paul Artadi played for eight minutes in the first quarter and scored 11 points, nine coming from the three-point area, giving Ginebra a 26-22 lead.
But it was Helterbrand who struck hardest. He had 19 first-half points on a 4-of-7 shooting from rainbow country as the Gin Kings led by as high as 17 points, 53-46 with 1:59 left to play before the break.
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