Kings inch closer to crown

GREG Slaughter of Ginebra rejects the layup of Renaldo Balkman of San Miguel Beer during Game 5 of their Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven finals showdown last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. ROMAN PROSPERO

I guess, everybody got they wanted, a close game.

Ginebra flirted with disaster before booking a thrilling 87-83 victory over San Miguel Beer in Game 5 of their Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven series last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Trailing by five points, 78-83 in the last three minutes, Ginebra launched a massive 9-0 closeout capped by LA Tenorio’s split free throw in the last two seconds to push the Beermen to the edge for the first time in their unbeaten finals slate.

Aside from Tenorio, Scottie Thompson also starred in this come-from-behind win, scoring six straight points including the dagger layup for the breakaway 86-83 gap in the last 20 seconds.

San Miguel had several chances to tie the game but Marcio Lassiter, Arwind Santos and Chris Ross missed multiple three point attempts en route to a painful loss.

“I guess, everybody got they wanted, a close game. It was all about defense and making stops. We pulled it out. It was the toughest game we played in the finals,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

“We got this crucial Game 5 but we want to make sure we win the war, and not only this battle.”

Thompson paced the Gin Kings with 20 points 11 rebounds and three assists to make it up for the misfiring import Justin Brownlee who settled for just 18 points in 8-of-28 shooting.

Tenorio and Greg Slaughter were also instrumental in the win with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, Renaldo Balkman and June Mar Fajardo had 32 and 23 points, respectively, in a losing cause for San Miguel.

Behind import Balkman’s 22 first half points, San Miguel threatened to break the game wide open anew in the first half, leading by as many as 10 points, 38-28.

The undeterred Kings, however, unleashed a 14-2 barrage to closeout the half with a 40-40 tie, averting a potential blowout loss once again.

This was the first time the game was decided in the end game after four blowouts in the first four games highlighted by a forgettable 30-point winning margin.

In this strange series, Ginebra scored a 127-99 duel opener and another one in Game 4, 130-100, while the Beermen clinched two lopsided wins in Game 3, 134-109, and Game 4, 132-94.

In his previous statement, Cone hinted that whoever would gain an early momentum would surely emerge victorious.

But this time, whoever had the bigger heart down the stretch ran away with the triumph.