Barangay Ginebra reigned over Star in their do-or-die setto and set up an interesting battle of champs with San Miguel Beer in the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup finale.
The Gin Kings stoked the fire of their 91-67 triumph over the Star Hotshots the last time and repeated with a wire-to-wire 89-76 win Tuesday night to claim the second berth in the best-of-seven title playoff.
San Miguel secured the first finals berth early on in topping TNT KaTropa also in Game Seven of their own semis duel.
Sol Mercado, LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson all dished out sterling games to lead the Kings in their Game Seven victory over the Hotshots to the delight of their huge cheering throng at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.
Completing a comeback from 0-2 then 2-3 down in this Final Four, the Kings now have a chance to end a 10-year drought in the all-Filipino tourney.
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But Ginebra, the Governors Cup titlist, will have a tough roadblock to hurdle in reigning back-to-back Philippine Cup champion San Miguel.
The duel of champs commences Friday at the same Pasay City playing venue.
Quashed was Star’s bid for a first finals stint since its 2014 grand slam run.
“It was a tough seven-game series but our guys just did a good job pushing and pushing, and battling and battling,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
“We had to keep on pushing. I reminded the guys of Game Six where we fell behind. The guys accepted the warning and they kept battling,” Cone added.
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Mercado, Tenorio, Aguilar and Thompson took charge leading their rampage.
Mercado and Tenorio scored 23 and 21 points, respectively, and delivered the clutch plays to quell the Hotshots’ last stand in the payoff period.
Aguilar provided the firepower early on and finished with 19 points and five rebounds while Thompson was a tremendous energy source, contributing 10 points, nine rebounds, two steals and one assist.
Cone mentioned the key role played by Jervy Cruz in the absence of the injury-hit Joe Devance as well as the boost they gained from their virtual sixth man – the crowd.
A crowd of over 20,000 filled the MOA Arena in this deciding Game Seven, including a legendary personality, whose entry in the venue sparked thunderous chants of “Ja-wors-ki! Ja-wors-ki!”
Being the more aggressive team, the Kings enjoyed a big advantage in charities and led by nine, 45-36, at the half. Ginebra had 10-of-13 foul shots as against Star’s 0-of-3.
The Kings imposed themselves on the Hotshots from the get-go, opening the game with a 6-0 spurt on a long two and a jarring jam by Aguilar then a mid-range jumper by Devance.
Star had its first basket on a 10-footer by Paul Lee with already over three minutes into the contest.
Aguilar had 12 points, Mercado nine and Devance seven in their dominant run in the opening half. (SB)
