MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATED) The Manila Clasico goes to a Game 7.
The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings refused to die, bucking a slow start and eventually crushing the Star Hotshots, 91-87, in front of an 18,000-strong crowd at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday to send their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series to a deciding knockout game.
Playing with their backs against the wall, the Gin Kings got contributions from virtually everyone fielded in by Tim Cone as they tied the best-of-seven series at three games apiece to force a do-or-die game on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
"What would a Manila Clasico series be without a Game 7?" said Ginebra coach Tim Cone after the contest. "I guess this was the way it was meant to be. We're supposed to play a Game 7."
Sol Mercado had 21 points, five rebounds, and four assists, while LA Tenorio fired 15 of his 19 points in the first half to keep Ginebra in the game. But it was Joe Devance who played the biggest role in the victory with his scintillating third quarter performance.
Inspired by Devance
The Gin Kings trailed 38-39 at the break, having fallen behind by 11 points early in the first quarter only to roar back behind a stunning 22-2 run.
It was not until Devance took charge offensively in the third period that Ginebra seized the lead for good, however. The veteran forward knocked down back-to-back three-pointers that turned a 44-46 deficit into a 50-46 advantage with 6:09 left to play.
After a 6-2 Star run tied the game at 52, Mercado converted a circus lay-up in transition to push his team back ahead, and Devance scored off a pretty pass from Scottie Thompson to make it a four-point game, 56-52. It turned out to be the start of an 8-0 Ginebra run and when the dust settled, Devance scored all 14 of his points in the third quarter, making six of his seven field goals, and the Gin Kings led 62-54.
"Joe's an inspiration to us," said Cone after the game. "He had a great third quarter, and he's still taking shots (for pain). But he's been an inspiration to everybody, with his resolve and his ability to keep on battling."
The Hotshots last threatened early in the final quarter, when Ian Sangalang completed a three-point play to trim the lead to five, 62-57. But Jervy Cruz, the hero of Ginebra's Game 4, answered with an and-1 of his own, and then scored in transition to push give the Gin Kings their first double-digit lead, 67-57, with 9:45 left to play.
"We got a couple of shots that went in for us, and that kind of ramped up our defensive intensity," said Cone. "They made a couple of errors as well, and what was a four-point game became a 12-point game. They tried to make habol and rushed shots, and made errors. That's usually what happens when you try to make habol."
True enough, the Hotshots committed turnovers in their next couple of possessions, with Sangalang getting whistled for a three-second violation and Marc Pingris called for an offensive foul. On the other end, Mercado began to wax hot, and the "Sol Train" wound up scoring 12 points in the final frame to lead the way in the rout.
🎥 Sol Mercado sinks it from deep! @barangayginebra on the verge of winning Game 6 #WeArePBA pic.twitter.com/3j5gXPGAdR
— PBA (@pbaconnect) February 19, 2017
The Gin Kings led by as much as 25 points, 91-65, and held the Hotshots to only 31% shooting, including only 38% from inside the shaded area.
But early in the game, Cone admitted that he feared his team would be blown out by 40 points, after Star raced off to a 22-11 advantage, thanks to Allein Maliksi's hot start.
"In one of our timeouts, I apologized to the team. I said I did a bad job of getting you guys ready for this game," he acknowledged. "I'm not sure if we were tight or flat. We just weren't ready to play. Luckily, our guys righted themselves and got back in the game quickly."
It was Tenorio who fired up the Gin Kings, as he found his rhythm and anchored a 22-2 run bridging the first and second quarters. His floater gave the Gin Kings a 23-22 lead with 33 seconds left in the opening frame, and he made it a 30-22 lead with a jumper at the 8:16 mark of the second.
However, Star answered with a 13-0 blast of their own. The Hotshots were getting contributions from everyone on the floor, with Pingris' hook shot ending their silence, and Mark Barroca tying the game at 33 with a triple. Maliksi gave the Hotshots back the lead, 35-33, with a lay-up off a turnover by Tenorio.
A jumper by Justin Melton made it a three-point game, 39-36, with a minute left in the second frame, but Jervy Cruz's tip-in in the dying seconds ensured that Ginebra entered the halftime break down by just a point, 39-38.
Star opened the third with back-to-back jumpers from Barroca and Melton to surge ahead, 43-39, but that was when Devance took charge for Ginebra.
Pingris finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Star, but 10 of his markers came in the first half. Barroca finished with 13, while Paul Lee was limited to eight points on three of 13 shooting. Maliksi, after scoring seven in the first frame, only had two points the rest of the way.
Star's vaunted defense also fell apart in the second half, when they allowed Ginebra to score 51 points. As a team, the Gin Kings made 49% of their attempts and also had a 21-10 advantage in assists.
The scores:
GINEBRA 91 - Mercado 21, Tenorio 19, Devance 14, Aguilar 11, Cruz 11, Ferrer 6, Taha 3, Jamito 2, Thompson 2, Helterbrand 1, Ellis 1, Caguioa 0, Mariano 0, Marcelo 0.
STAR 67 - Pingris 14, Barroca 13, Maliksi 9, Lee 8, Ramos 6, Melton 4, Jalalon 4, Reavis 4, Sangalang 3, Brondial 2, Abundo 0, Dela Rosa 0, Simon 0.
Quarter scores: 25-22, 38-39, 62-54, 91-67
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