MANILA, Philippines - David Noel finally outplayed Best Import awardee Gabe Freeman, sparking Barangay Ginebra past San Miguel Beer, 106-98, and moving the Gin Kings within a victory of clinching the Motolite PBA Fiesta Cup championship at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Gin Kings pulled away by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, then rallied behind Noel, Ronald Tubid and Eric Menk after the Beermen came within a point at 72-71 in the third period.
A four-point play by Tubid and a drive by Menk boosted Ginebra’s lead to 78-71 before Noel stretched this to 85-72 as he scuttled a last-ditch rally by the Beermen.
Noel sent Freeman out of the game with a sixth foul with barely three minutes left to play.
The free throw that Noel scored as he completed a three-point play gave the Gin Kings an insurmountable 98-89 lead.
With a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series, Ginebra can clinch the championship with another win tomorrow, also at the Big Dome.
A victory by SMB will force a Game 7 on Friday.
A Ginebra championship now looks certain since 19 of the 28 teams that prevailed in Game 5 after a 2-2 tie went on to win the title.
Five nights after bungling three straight charities that could have won Game 4 for Ginebra, Noel finished with a game-high 29 points. Freeman wound up with 16.
Noel had Freeman in foul trouble early and later said this was the only way to slow down his San Miguel adversary.
He said he’s looking forward to end the series tomorrow, but added he’s ready for a Game 7.
“We’ll go practice tomorrow and see what happens,” said Noel.
Chico Lanete made his five-minute, second-quarter stint special, shooting all his nine points from beyond three-point range to give the Ginebra offense a boost in closing out the period.
From a tight first 10 minutes, the Kings scampered off to leads of as many as 16 points in the dying minutes of the first half, with Lanete, virtually a nonfactor offensively in the first four games, draining his third trey for 56-40.
Noel also had two triples for the Kings in the second period and Helterbrand and Eric Menk one each as Ginebra made 7-of-12 attempts from that distance and finished with 33 second-quarter points.
Aside from two Danny Ildefonso dunks, the Beermen were relatively quiet in the second quarter as Freeman sat out all but two minutes of the period after getting his third foul.
The Best Import winner committed two fouls in the first quarter and was never a factor offensively the rest of the way. He went to the bench with just four points while Noel had 13.
The 13-point margin was Ginebra’s biggest lead at halftime in this series. The Kings pulled it off even with Cyrus Baguio and Sunday Salvacion, two usually reliable marksmen, going scoreless.
Dondon Hontiveros was also saddled with early foul trouble, committing his third on Willie Wilson with 43.8 seconds left in the second period.
Tubid scored 10 points in the first period as the defending champions took control early until the halftime buzzer.
The scores:
GINEBRA 106—Noel 29, Menk 18, Lanete 14, Tubid 14, Helterbrand 9, Wilson 8, Mamaril 6, Reavis 5, Salvacion 3, Pacana 0, Baguio 0.
SAN MIGUEL 98—ortez 23, Freeman 16, Ildefonso 14, Villanueva 9, Hontiveros 9, Pennisi 7, Custodio 6, Washington 6, Pena 5, Racela 3, Gonzales 0, Pingris 0.
Quarters: 23-18, 56-42, 71-68, 106-98
The Gin Kings pulled away by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, then rallied behind Noel, Ronald Tubid and Eric Menk after the Beermen came within a point at 72-71 in the third period.
A four-point play by Tubid and a drive by Menk boosted Ginebra’s lead to 78-71 before Noel stretched this to 85-72 as he scuttled a last-ditch rally by the Beermen.
Noel sent Freeman out of the game with a sixth foul with barely three minutes left to play.
The free throw that Noel scored as he completed a three-point play gave the Gin Kings an insurmountable 98-89 lead.
With a 3-2 edge in the best-of-seven series, Ginebra can clinch the championship with another win tomorrow, also at the Big Dome.
A victory by SMB will force a Game 7 on Friday.
A Ginebra championship now looks certain since 19 of the 28 teams that prevailed in Game 5 after a 2-2 tie went on to win the title.
Five nights after bungling three straight charities that could have won Game 4 for Ginebra, Noel finished with a game-high 29 points. Freeman wound up with 16.
Noel had Freeman in foul trouble early and later said this was the only way to slow down his San Miguel adversary.
He said he’s looking forward to end the series tomorrow, but added he’s ready for a Game 7.
“We’ll go practice tomorrow and see what happens,” said Noel.
Chico Lanete made his five-minute, second-quarter stint special, shooting all his nine points from beyond three-point range to give the Ginebra offense a boost in closing out the period.
From a tight first 10 minutes, the Kings scampered off to leads of as many as 16 points in the dying minutes of the first half, with Lanete, virtually a nonfactor offensively in the first four games, draining his third trey for 56-40.
Noel also had two triples for the Kings in the second period and Helterbrand and Eric Menk one each as Ginebra made 7-of-12 attempts from that distance and finished with 33 second-quarter points.
Aside from two Danny Ildefonso dunks, the Beermen were relatively quiet in the second quarter as Freeman sat out all but two minutes of the period after getting his third foul.
The Best Import winner committed two fouls in the first quarter and was never a factor offensively the rest of the way. He went to the bench with just four points while Noel had 13.
The 13-point margin was Ginebra’s biggest lead at halftime in this series. The Kings pulled it off even with Cyrus Baguio and Sunday Salvacion, two usually reliable marksmen, going scoreless.
Dondon Hontiveros was also saddled with early foul trouble, committing his third on Willie Wilson with 43.8 seconds left in the second period.
Tubid scored 10 points in the first period as the defending champions took control early until the halftime buzzer.
The scores:
GINEBRA 106—Noel 29, Menk 18, Lanete 14, Tubid 14, Helterbrand 9, Wilson 8, Mamaril 6, Reavis 5, Salvacion 3, Pacana 0, Baguio 0.
SAN MIGUEL 98—ortez 23, Freeman 16, Ildefonso 14, Villanueva 9, Hontiveros 9, Pennisi 7, Custodio 6, Washington 6, Pena 5, Racela 3, Gonzales 0, Pingris 0.
Quarters: 23-18, 56-42, 71-68, 106-98
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