PBA Finals: Balkman, Devance nearly come to blows at halftime

The heated duel between San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra spilled into the tunnel of Araneta Coliseum on Friday night.

Things got chippy just as the players were heading into their respective dugouts shortly after the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the first half.

Beermen import Renaldo Balkman shoved Gin Kings forward Joe Devance in the back as the two were on their way to their locker rooms.

Fortunately, security and other players quickly stepped in, keeping the incident from escalating.

Ginebra, trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven finals series, is up big, 67-52, at the half.

Newly-minted Best Import Justin Brownlee is leading the way for the Kings with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, four rebounds and six assists.

Greg Slaughter has 17 points while LA Tenorio and Devance have 12 apiece for Ginebra, which is shooting 67 percent from the field.

Balkman has 14 points and eight rebounds for the Beermen, who are in dire need of production from June Mar Fajardo, Chris Ross and Marcio Lassiter.

Fajardo, who earned his seventh Best Player of the Conference before tipoff, only has four points and two rebounds as of posting.