Barangay Ginebra claims Fiesta Cup 2008

Ginebra ends Air21's title hopes, Barangay Ginebra claims Fiesta Cup 2008.

There was an eerie silence the moment Chris Alexander limped toward the Ginebra bench, grimacing in pain, his hand holding his quadricep. Then, there was even more concern when he was called for his fifth foul early in the fourth quarter.

But instead of losing hope, Ginebra only got better.

Alexander survived the game, Erik Menk played like the old Erik Menk, and Ronald Tubid scored 22 points as Ginebra swatted Air21’s first-ever title aspirations, posting a 97-84 win in Game 7 Wednesday to nail down its eighth franchise crown in winning the Smart-Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Conference at the packed Araneta Coliseum.

Alexander played on the edge of fouling out with 10:37 left in the game but gallantly held on to stand at Ginebra’s frontline of defense, holding the Express without a field goal in the last 4:27 while coming through with 14 unanswered points and giving coach Jong Uichico his 8th title.

“Every championship means a lot, whether it’s your first, your eighth," said Uichico. “Its hard to explain how we won the series, but the important thing is that you keep on trying."

Uichico, who has the highest winning percentage among the active coaches, became only the 5th coach to win more than one title on two different teams. This is the second time that he had steered Ginebra to the title after the 2006-07 Philippine Cup after guiding San Miguel Beer to six crowns.

Menk and Tubid were named co-Finals MVPs. This was the third time that the man they call ‘Major Pain’ has achieved the award, while the honor was the first for Tubid, who came into this series doubtful whether he can play after disclocating his left ankle last July 4 in the elimination round.

Menk finished with 21 points – eight coming the third quartr -- and pulled down 14 rebounds while Tubid had a series-high 22 points including a flawless 11-of-11 from the free throw line.

Game Six will be the one that will bother Air21 the most, a game where it lost a 16-point lead and throwing its chances of ending a six-year title drought or since entering the league in 2002.

But the team that finished No. 1 after the eliminations still had that opportunity last night, coming back from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter (65-52) and snatching the lead at 84-83 on a follow-up by Arwind Santos.

That, however, was the last field goal the Express could connect for the night, reflecting that they still have a lot of maturing to do when it comes to the big stage.

“We were not ready for the impact of the crowd Ginebra brought into the championships," said Air21 coach Bo Perasol. “There are a lot of times we were about to win, but they were able to turn the tide to their favor. But overall, I think we did pretty well."

Steven Thomas led the Express with 24 points, and Santos added 19 points, six rebounds and four steals. Gary David contributed 18 points, shooting 4 of 6 from the three-point range.

It was a victory that, at times, was hard to contemplate for a team that lost Helterbrand in Game 2 (hamstring). Mark Caguioa, who finished with 13 points, then was slowed down by knee tendonities before Paul Artadi also got hurt because of a hamstring pull.

During the game, Junthy Valenzuela also got hurt (knee tendonities) and did not return after hitting the bench with 2:10 remaining in the third quarter.

Somehow, the Gin Kings managed to survive. And that was all because of their spirit.

“The players deserve the credit despite the deficiencies," said Uichico. “We could have easily given up when the players got hurt, but we did not."

The Gin Kings were fortunate to hang on to a 49-46 lead after the first half despite missing 11 free throws (12 of 23) and giving away 16 turnover points to the Express, who were called for 2 flagrant fouls (penalty 1) and a pair of technical fouls.

Ginebra, though, had more second chance points, 14-4.

Ronald Tubid came off the bench to score 12 points in the first half for the Gin Kings, who led largest at 28-21 on a basket by Paul Artadi 18 seconds into the second quarter.

The Express, who in Game 6 had the best start in the series by storming to a 14-0 spread, countered to tie the count at 29 on a triple from Santos.