By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
FOR a change the best-of-seven Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup finals had a close game, with the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings beating the San Miguel Beermen, 87-83, in Game Five on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Following four straight games of big-margin victories, averaging 30 points, PBA fans, numbering 16,958 at the Big Dome, finally saw a tightly fought match between the Kings and Beermen with the former going on a strong finish on both ends to notch the victory and move 3-2 up in the championship series.
The match started with the two teams making runs and counterruns with hardly any team establishing full control.
Barangay Ginebra held a seven-point cushion, 17-10, midway into the opening frame before San Miguel finished the period strong with a 16-7 run to claim a two-point lead, 26-24, after the end of the first 12 minutes.
In the second period, the two teams held each other in check.
The Beermen would race to a 38-29 lead at the six-minute mark only for the Kings to make a flurry of a finish to level the count at 40-all by the halftime break.
In the third period, import Justin Brownlee and Greg Slaughter would jump-start the Kings to a fast start, holding a 55-50 advantage in the early part.
Towed by June Mar Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot, however, the Beermen would rally back.
The count stood at 62-60 in Barangay Ginebra’s favor with two minutes remaining in the quarter.
Both teams battled the rest of the way with the score eventually settling in a stalemate at 66-all heading into the final canto.
The fourth period saw the two teams in a tight race early to establish control.
San Miguel held a slim one-point lead, 71-70, with 10 minutes remaining.
The lead swang back-and-forth thereafter until San Miguel pushed ahead to a three-point lead, 79-76, with 5:41 to go.
The Beermen continued to hold sway, 83-80, entering the last two-minute mark.
Barangay Ginebra tried to inch its way closer but its initial attempts at the basket failed to connect.
But two free throws by Scottie Thompson pulled the Kings within one point, 83-82, with 1:07 left on the clock.
In the ensuing play, Mr. Fajardo got fouled off a rebound play but failed to hit his free throws.
That led to Mr. Thompson giving the go-ahead basket to the Kings, 84-83, with 36 ticks to go off a pass from Mr. Brownlee.
San Miguel sued for time after but Renaldo Balkman’s jab at the basket was foiled by the Barangay Ginebra defense which led to another Thompson basket with 23 seconds remaining to extend their lead to three, 86-83.
The Beermen had several attempts from beyond the arc but none of which hit the mark.
They were forced to foul LA Tenorio with 2.9 seconds left but the Barangay Ginebra guard only buried the Beermen further by splitting his charities for the final score of 87-83.
Mr. Thompson led the Kings with 20 points and 11 rebounds with Mr. Brownlee adding 18 points.
For San Miguel it was Mr. Balkman who led with 34 points and 20 rebounds while Mr. Fajardo finished with 23 points and 11 boards.
“I guess everybody got the game they wanted. It was as close as it could get,” winning Kings coach Tim Cone opened at the postgame press conference.
“We just talked about stepping up our defense in the end and that made a difference. But it’s not yet over and we have to do it again on Wednesday,” he added.
Game Six of the finals is on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

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