(Eagle News) — Ginebra won the the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup, with a score of 101-96, defeating the Meralco Bolts in a packed Philippine Arena Friday night that was a nail-biter at the stretch of the fourth quarter.
With the win, Ginebra becomes the back-to-back Governors’ Cup Champion.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone thanked the more than 54,000 people who packed the Philippine Area in Bulacan, saying this was the first time he had coached a game in front of huge number of people.
“Look at that crowd! Amazing! Grabe!,” he said in an interview immediately after the game.
The Philippine Arena in Bulacan had a record-crowd of 54,086 people, the biggest attendance so far for a Philippine basketball championship at the world’s largest indoor arena.
LA Tenorio said he thanked God for the strength given to him to play the championship game.
Tenorio, who scored a whopping 26 points, revealed he was still hurting from an elbow injury, but that he had to delay surgery for tomorrow Saturday, just so he could play in the final game of the championship.
Ginebra dominated the game, leading the match almost the entire game, mostly with a double-digit advantage.
But at four minutes into the game, the lead dwindled to just 9 points. The closest Meralco got was 96 to Ginebra’s 100 with just 40.3 seconds into the last quarter.
But Ginebra did not let Meralco get closer than that, and made sure that they had the ball as the last few seconds ticked, with LA Tenorio, even shooting one of two final free throws at the end game, ensuring the win with a score of 101-96.
Tenorio was also declared the Most Valuable Player of the series that night.
Former Ginebra playing coach and former senator Robert “Sonny” Jaworski said that night was good for Philippine Sports, as he noted the record-breaking attendance of 54,086 at the Philippine Arena.
“This is wonderful for the sport of basketball,” said the legendary former Ginebra playing coach who came at the Philippine Arena to watch Game 7 of the PBA finals.
Scores:
GINEBRA (101)
Tenorio 26, Brownlee 23, Thompson 14, Slaughter 12, Aguilar 10, Devance 10, Caguioa 4, Ferrer 2
MERALCO (96)
Durham 26, Dillinger 20, Hodge 14, Newsome 11, Caram 9, Hugnatan 7, Amer 6, Lanete 3
Quarter scores: 27-19, 52-37, 81-64, 101-96
