EIGHT years after and Maverick Ahanmisi is back in the PBA finals.
The Fil-Am guard gets another shot at winning a championship after Barangay Ginebra arranged a best-of-seven duel with TNT for the Governors Cup crown.
Ahanmisi played a huge role in the Kings advancing back to the finals as he finished with a team-high 25 points to beat the San Miguel Beermen in Game 6 of their semifinals series, 102-99, Sunday night before a full-packed crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
He shot 3-of-6 from the three-point line and had 11 in the second quarter to help Ginebra keep in step with San Miguel in the first half.
From there, Justine Brownlee and Japeth Aguilar took care of business for the Kings to wrap up the game and the series, 4-2.
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Game 1 of the title series is set Sunday next week (Oct. 27) at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The 33-year-old Ahanmisi is in the finals for the first time while suiting up for Barangay Ginebra, but will be playing for his first championship since being part of the Rain or Shine team that ruled the 2016 edition of the Commissioner's Cup.
"It's been a while. Definitely excited to be back in the finals. It's been a long time coming," said Ahanmisi, acquired by the Kings as an unrestricted free agent at the start of Season 48 following a two-year stint with Converge.
"I'm just glad we made it here. It was a tough series. It's a tough playoffs so far, but I'm glad we stuck together and finally got the win."
Ginebra completed a three-game sweep of Meralco in the quarterfinals, before going through the wringer against the Beermen.
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Now, the top seeded Tropang Giga are next for the Kings in their bid to regain the same crown wrested from them by TNT last year.
"The job's not done yet. We'll see what we can do in the finals," said Ahanmisi of the Kings' matchup with the Tropang Giga.
Incidentally, Ahanmisi's total output in Game 6 was his highest in a Ginebra uniform and playoffs-career high as well, according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III. (RG)
