By Musong R. Castillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:22:00 07/17/2009
Filed Under: Basketball, Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)
MANILA, Philippines - Laced with superstars in every position after a never-ending buildup over the years, San Miguel Beer finally achieved what it was built to do.
Throwing the full weight of their offensive armada at Barangay Ginebra and adding tough defense in between, the Beermen ended a four-year title drought last night by winning the Motolite PBA Fiesta Cup after a clinical 90-79 Game 7 dismantling of the Gin Kings in front of 20,541 screaming souls at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen jumped out of the gates hard, zoomed to several 17-point leads in the third quarter before emphatically weathering numerous Ginebra rallies in the fourth to jack up their all-time high collection of championships to 18.
Jonas Villanueva, a few nights after being named the season’s Most Improved Player, bagged the PBA Press Corps’ Fern-C Finals MVP plum after norming 11 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists, edging out the rejuvenated Danny Ildefonso in the balloting.
The two teamed up in the play that ended all Ginebra hopes late in the fourth, as Villanueva fed Ildefonso in a fastbreak play that gave San Miguel an 83-72 cushion, going into the last 2:21.
After a hot first half where they took a 10-point lead, the Beermen shifted to high gear in the third, taking a couple of 17-point leads, the last at the 4:24 mark, as Dondon Hontiveros skipped into the lane and tossed in an awkward shot that gave San Miguel a 63-46 advantage.
True to its never-say-die spirit, Ginebra found an unlikely hero in Chico Laneta, who beat the third-quarter buzzer with a gutsy drive and then added another twinner early in the fourth off an aggressive move to push the Kings to within 70-62, with 10:46 to play.
But Jay Washington ended a four-minute drought with a slam dunk and the Beermen simply fended off several Kings rallies from that point on.
The last of those Ginebra rallies came late in the fourth, when the Kings held the Beermen scoreless for over three minutes, a dry spell ended by the Villanueva-Ildefonso connection.
The Kings trailed after the first quarter for the first time in the series, not being able to start in the same fiery style that they did in the first six games. Even David Noel failed to buy a point in that span.
Frosty start
Contributing to that frosty start was the ejection of Sunday Salvacion with 64 seconds remaining in the first period. He was called for a Flagrant Foul 2 infraction after hitting Freeman with a wayward elbow in the face.
San Miguel also took care of the ball better in the first two periods, committing just eight turnovers compared to the Kings’ 14.
Helterbrand, despite being hobbled by an aching left hamstring, still had seven points in the first period and eight in the second as the Kings, who trailed by as many as 13 points after the first eight minutes, stayed within striking distance going to the second half.
The newly crowned MVP took eight attempts from the field, hitting all six two-point tries and making a triple in 17 minutes, while Noel was 0-of-3 from trifectaville and just 2-of-4 from two-point range.
Although Freeman was called for a first foul with less than two minutes gone, the Best Import winner was able to stay away from his second until the first minute of the third quarter.
He translated a long first-half stint into 13 points and nine rebounds to give San Miguel a huge energy boost.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 90—Freeman 29, Villanueva 15, Pingris 12, Ildefonso 10, Cortez 9, Pennisi 8, Washington 5, Hontiveros 2, Racela 0, Pena 0.
GINEBRA 79—Helterbrand 25, Menk 12, Tubid 10, Reavis 9, NOel 8, Lanete 6, Wilson 5, Baguio 4, Mamaril 0, Salvacion 0.
Quarters: 25-15, 45-37, 70-60, 90-79
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