Sudden death
SUDDEN death. Make or break. Do or die.
Barangay Ginebra and Meralco fight for all the marbles in game 7 of their semifinal showdown in the PBA Philippine Cup at the FPJ Arena in San Jose, Batangas.
Game time at the lovely, coffee- producing city located some 70 kilometers south of Manila is 7:30 p.m.
The winner of the Ginebra-Meralco match will earn the right to meet early finalist San Miguel Beer in the best-of- seven finals starting on June 5.
The two teams, which split the first six games of their semifinal series, are saying they’re prepared for this showdown.
The Tim Cone-mentored Kings have the upper hand in their long and colorful playoff showdowns, but the Luigi Trillo-coached Bolts dominated their last face-off in the previous Philippine Cup quarterfinals.
Last Wednesday, the Bolts defeated the Kings, 86-81, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to keep their title hopes alive.
The 1-2 punch of Bong Quinto and Chris Newsome provided the firepower for the Bolts.
Quinto finished with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, while Newsome added 21 points, four rebounds and three assists in almost 35 minutes of play.
Veteran Allein Maliksi also stepped up for the Bolts as he scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, including nine straight points in the last five minutes.
Cliff Hodge had 10 points and five rebounds.
Christian Standhardinger and Japeth Aguilar led the fight for the Kings.
Standhardinger finished with 19 points and eight rebounds while Aguilar added 19 points and seven rebounds.
The scores:
Meralco (86) — Quinto 23, Newsome 21, Maliksi 14, Hodge 10, Banchero 9, Almazan 7, Bates 2, Pascual 0, Caram 0, Jose 0.
Ginebra (81) — J.Aguilar 19, Standhardinger 19, Ahanmisi 13, Pringle 12, Thompson 9, Tenorio 3, Pinto 3, Cu 3, Murrell 0, Pessumal 0.
Quarterscores: 19-18, 38-37, 54-53, 86-81.
Game Friday:
(FPJ Arena, San Jose City, Batangas)
7:30 p.m. — Meralco vs. Ginebra
Results:
Game 1 — Ginebra 92, Meralco 88.
Game 2 — Meralco 103, Ginebra 91.
Game 3 — Meralco 87, Ginebra 80.
Game 4 — Ginebra 90, Meralco 71
Game 5 — Ginebra 89, Meralco 84.
Game 6 — Meralco 86, Ginebra 81
(Semifinal series tied at 3-3).
