MANILA, Philippines – Barangay Ginebra’s is now back as Commissioners Cup Champion after 21 long years, defeating defending Commissioner’s Cup Champion San Miguel Beermen (93-77) in their game 6 of the Finals at the Mall of Asia Arena on August 08, 2018, Wednesday.
Last time Barangay Ginebra won the Commissioners Cup trophy in the year 1997 formerly known as “Gordon’s Gin Boars” against the Alaska Milkmen now “Alaska Aces”. Ginebra that time was led by coach Robert Jaworski.
Being down 1-2 in the series and having a blowout loss against San Miguel Beermen, Ginebra bounce back and won the next 3 games, the series also decided by blowout except game 5 as the only crucial match of the finals.
After 2 days off with his worst night of the series, Justin Brownlee led Barangay Ginebra dropping 31 points, 19 rebounds including 7 assists and 4 blocks.
With a close game in Game 5 both teams also had a slow start, with the Beermen leading 17-14 in the opening quarter and battling 8 deadlock and 4 lead changes in the first half.
San Miguel Beermen dictated the tempo in the first half, Beermen have once held 33-23 lead in the second quarter, but Barangay Ginebra’s never say die Spirit prevailed they only trailed by 38-35 at the half. Ginebra continues to dominate in the third quarter as they outscored the Beermen 27-8 in the period and return their favor with 62-46 advantage going into the final quarter.
With the San Miguel Beermen trio (Ross, Lassiter, Cabagnot) combined 3 of 32 in the field only Cabagnot hit a basket in 3 of 15 while Ross and Lassiter combined 0 of 17, Beermen continue their drought in the final period as Ginebra stretches their biggest lead to (85-63) in the 4 minute frame.
Ginebra’s had an equal distribution of their starters except Joe Devance who only held by a single digit, Greg Slaughter and LA Tenorio finished with 13 points and 11 points respectively. Scottie Thompson, who also led in their game 6 victory finished double-double with 12 points, including 13 rebounds and 5 assist earning him as the Finals Most Valuable Player.
June Mar Fajardo on the other hand, finished 29 points and 15 rebounds, Reynaldo Balkman also added double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds for the wounded San Miguel.
Game Summary
Total Lead Changes: 5
Total Deadlock: 8
Biggest Lead: 10pts (SMB)
Biggest Lead: 22pts (Ginebra)
Barangay Ginebra (93) – Brownlee 31, Slaughter 13, Thompson 12, Tenorio 11, Chan 10, Mercado 6, Ferrer 5, Devance 4, J. Aguilar 1
San Miguel Beermen (77) – Fajardo 29, Balkman 24, Heruela 11, Cabagnot 6, Santos 5, Pessumal 2, Ross 0, Lassiter 0, Rosser 0, Vigil 0, Standhardinger 0
Quarter Scoring
First Quarter: Ginebra (14-17)
Second Quarter: (21-21)
Third Quarter: (27-8)
Fourth Quarter: (31-31) San Miguel Beer
Total: 93-77
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