Gin Kings force deciding Game 7
Alexander lifts Ginebra past Air21
By Musong R. Castillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:23:00 08/18/2008
MANILA, Philippines—Playing on pure heart and cheered by more than 18,000 screaming souls, a walking wounded Barangay Ginebra side crawled out from the jaws of defeat to make sure that the classic Smart PBA Fiesta Cup title series sees an end it deserves—a Game 7.
The Gin Kings rode the heroics of Chris Alexander in the third period Sunday night before holding off a series of Air21 uprisings for an 80-75 victory that forced the rubber match at the SRO Araneta Coliseum this Wednesday.
Alexander scored 20 of his PBA career-high 37 points in the third period when Ginebra finally pulled ahead after trailing by 16 points in the second and by as many as 12 in the third.
“You just leave it to the spirit of the Barangay Ginebra,” coach Jong Uichico said. “We are walking wounded, but the heart is still there. It is the only thing that is keeping us in the series. Good things happen off of that.”
Working hard after trailing, 17-33 with 7:21 left in the second period, the Kings closed out the third quarter with a 13-0 run to take a 61-55 lead they never relinquished.
But it certainly didn’t look that easy with the Express fighting like they were the ones who needed the win more than anything only to suffer a bad break when import Steven Thomas fouled out with 4:53 to go.
Magnificent rally
Air21 zoomed to a 14-0 lead as the Kings missed their first six shots and committed three of their six first half turnovers. The Express padded this to their biggest, 33-17, after a JC Intal free throw with 7:21 left in the second quarter.
The half ended at 37-34 in favor of the Express, marking a magnificent rally by Ginebra in the final four minutes of the second period where the Kings scored 17 points and held Air21 to just two points.
Uichico tried getting something out of Mark Caguioa, but it was clear that the “Spark” was playing hurt. Ginebra was already without Jay-Jay Helterbrand, who limped out of Game 2 because of a pulled hamstring.
Bothered by tendinitis in his knee and playing with an obvious limp, Caguioa was wheeled in and out of the game for just seven minutes in the first half and was scoreless after only one attempt.
It was clear that Thomas and Alexander would battle it out right from the get-go as both reinforcements completed their respective double-doubles right in the first two periods with Thomas scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds and Alexander finishing with 10 and 12.
The scores:
BARANGAY GINEBRA 80— Alexander 37, Menk 10, Tubid 9, Pacana 6, Valenzuela 5, Caguioa 5, Artadi 4, Salvacion 2, Crisano 2, Reavis 2.
AIR21 75—Thomas 20, De Ocampo 16, Santos 10, David 10, Canaleta 7, Arboleda 4, Billones 3, Cruz 2, Se 2, Intal 1, Kramer 0.
Quarters: 15-27, 34-37, 61-55, 80-75.
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