LONG DROUGHT OVER AS BARANGAY GINEBRA CAPTURES FIRST PBA PHILIPPINE CUP TITLE
The drought is over for Barangay Ginebra after winning its first Philippine Cup title in 13 years following an 82-78 win over Talk and Text on Wednesday night.
Japeth Aguilar played like a man possessed and keyed Barangay Ginebra to its first PBA Philippine Cup title since 2007 with a win over TNT at the Angeles University Foundation in Pampanga.
Aguilar dished-out, a career-high tying 32 points on top of 8 rebounds and 3 steals as the Gin Kings wrapped up the best-of-seven series in 5 games to finally capture the crown jewel of all 3 PBA championships. He went 8-of-12 from the field and had nine rebounds and three steals, capped off his sterling performance with an emphatic dunk off a lob from LA Tenorio that gave Ginebra a 78-73 cushion with less than two minutes remaining.
TNT threatened to force a Game 6 after leading 73-68 off back-to-back Simon Enciso triples with 5 minutes left but Ginebra answered with a 12-0 run highlighted by an Aguilar alley-oop slam for the win.
Minus two of their stars in Jayson Castro and Ray Parks, TNT hung tough and even took a 73-68 lead with five minutes left.
LA Tenorio hit the title-clinching free throws with 7.6 ticks left. The 36-year-old guard went on to win the Finals MVP award.
Stanley Pringle, shut down through the first three quarters, sank two straight triples to give the Gin Kings the upper hand before Tenorio assisted Aguilar and Joe Devance for an 80-73 lead with a minute remaining.
Roger Pogoy once again led the way for the Tropang Giga with 23 points and 8 rebounds, but the absences of injured star players Jayson Castro and Ray Parks certainly took a toll on the team.
Poy Erram had 18 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals, Simon Enciso had 17 points and 5 assists, while Troy Rosario chimed in 12 points and 8 rebounds in the loss.
It was another heartbreaking conference for TNT, which has not won a championship since 2015.