Gin Kings bag PBA crown

BARANGAY Ginebra broke the game wide open late in the third period behind Mark Caguioa and finished
off Red Bull Barako, 103-86, Wednesday night to capture the Gran Matador Philippine Basketball
Association Fiesta Conference crown at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Caguioa presided over Ginebra's uprising in the third quarter with 15 of his team-high 26 points,
firing three triples that broke the backs of the Barakos and handed the Gin Kings their first title in the post-
Sonny Jaworski era.
Caguioa's exploits electrified a jampacked crowd of 16,468, majority of them Ginebra diehards
who compounded the misery of the jittery Barakos with their non-stop chants and jeers.
Romel Adducul, Eric Menk, Torraye Braggs and Andy Seigle then took over from Caguioa and the
Gin Kings went in for the kill by building a solid 16-point spread, 86-70, that launched Ginebra to its first
crown in seven years.
Lacking their usual spunk, the Barakos simply folded up as the Gin Kings ended the best-of-five
series at 3-1.
Ginebra last tasted victory during the 1997 Commissioner's Cup title as Gordon's Gin with Jaworski
as playing coach.
Overall, the La Tondea franchise snared its fifth PBA crown and matched sister team San Miguel
Beer's feat as the lowest seed in the playoffs to win a championship. The Gin Kings were ranked sixth prior
to the quarterfinals.
"We competed and worked as a team. We had mistakes in the past but we've learned from them.
All the hard work paid off," said a teary-eyed Barangay Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen.
Tanquingcen, who replaced Allan Caidic as chief bench tactician in the middle of the conference,
became the fourth rookie coach to achieve the feat after Joel Banal of Talk 'N Text, Purefoods' Ryan
Gregorio and Coca-Cola's Chot Reyes.
Aside from these achievements, the Gin Kings also owned the distinction of becoming the first
team to hand the Barakos their first defeat in three PBA Finals.
The Gin Kings also gave import Torraye Braggs his first taste of a championship ring in his entire
professional career.
Eric Menk, who was named Finals MVP, finished with 22 points to complement the fine work of
Caguioa and Braggs, who also had 22 markers on top of 15 rebounds.
Jimwell Torion, who was suspended in Game 3, started for the Barakos but was immediately pulled
out of the game after hurting his right hand during a loose-ball scuffle midway in the first quarter.
Despite Torion's absence for most of the first half, the Barakos were able to sustain their offensive
through the outside snipings of Victor Thomas and Homer Se's incursions.
A three-pointer by Thomas, named Best Import of the conference, gave the Barakos an early 17-
10 lead and although the Gin Kings cut down the deficit to 30-27 at the end of the first quarter, Red Bull
held its ground until Braggs began throwing his weight around in the paint.

Scores:

GINEBRA 103 -- Caguioa 26, Braggs 22, Menk 20, Adducul 13, Seigle 13, Dimaunahan 5, Calpito 2,
Helterbrand 2, Salvacion 0, Santos 0.

RED BULL 86 -- Thomas 32, Se 19, Valenzuela 15, Tugade 10, Pennisi 3, Baguio 2, Villanueva 2, Harp
2, Ordonio 1, Robinson 0, Asaytono 0, Torion 0.

Quarters: 27-30, 52-48, 78-68, 103-86.