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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Saturday, October 28, 2017
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BOCAUE, Bulacan – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings came up with a performance to remember to complete its title-retention bid with a 101-96 victory over Meralco Bolts in Game 7 of the Oppo PBA Governors’ Cup finals last night at the Philippine Arena here.
Finals MVP LA Tenorio led the way with 26 points, including five three-point conversions.
The Kings captured its second straight Governors’ Cup championship and 10th PBA title overall.
Justin Brownlee chipped in with 23 markers. Earl Scottie Thompson had double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds while Gregory Slaughter contributed 12 markers.
From a seesaw battle early in the first quarter, the Kings started to pull away with outside hits by Tenorio and inside conversions from Brownlee, Slaughter and Joe Devance for a 27-19 lead.
The Bolts rallied to within 29-33 early in the second frame but the Kings widened the lead to its largest at 52-32 with baskets from Tenorio, Brownlee and Mark Caguioa.
The Bolts got five straight points from Jared Dillinger for a 52-37 halftime score.
The Kings continued its torrid shooting in the third frame with triples from Brownlee and Thompson to increase the lead back to 61-41 but the Bolts also found its touch from the outside to trim the deficit to 69-81 early in the fourth.
The Kings, however, was quick to put an end on the Bolts’ run with a trey from Brownlee and a layup by Thompson to extend the lead to 90-74.
The Bolts turned to Allen Durham and Anjo Caram to come to within 85-94. It pulled even closer at 96-100 after an inside hit by Chris Newsome and a trey by Dillinger but a free throw by Tenorio down the stretch sealed the championship for the Kings.
“Playing in front of a massive crowd pumped us out for 48 minutes,” said Kings head coach Tim Cone. “They played inspired basketball, LA was hitting his shots so as Justin. It’s a total team effort.”
Durham led the way with 26 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists while Dillinger contributed 20 markers, including five triples, for the Bolts, which settled for its second straight runner-up finish.
BOX SCORE:
GINEBRA 101 – Tenorio 26, Brownlee 23, Thompson 14, Slaughter 12, Aguilar 10, Devance 10, Caguioa 4, Ferrer 2.
MERALCO 96 – Durham 26, Dillinger 20, Hodge 14, Newsome 11, Caram 9, Hugnatan 7, Amer 6, Lanete 3.
Quarterscores: 27-19, 52-37, 81-64, 101-96./PN
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