MANILA: With his back against the wall, Jong Uichico made a bold pre-game prediction. And his band of aching charges kept him on track toward fulfilling that.
Displaying complete command of a team that also did not show a quit in them, Barangay Ginebra last night played heads-up basketball right from the get-go to post a 90-77 victory over Air21 that knotted the Fiesta Cup series at 2-all at the Araneta Coliseum.
“I said it in jest,” Uichico later said, when reminded of his earlier prediction. “But of course, deep inside, we want it to get to a Game 6 because it would mean that we are still there fighting for the title.”
The psychological pendulum has swung in favor of the Kings, as Chris Alexander woke up from his stupor and dominated the inside like never before. He not only made life hard for counterpart Steven Thomas, but on every Air21 player who dared entered the shaded lane as well.
Alexander, who was crowned the Best Import three games ago, finished with 22 points, 18 total rebounds after plucking down 10 on the offensive end, three assists and two blocks in a mammoth effort Air21 had no answer to.
And then there were Chris Pacana and Ronald Tubid who made up for the slack left by the injured Jay-Jay Helterbrand.
Pacana contributed 14 points coming off the bench and Tubid returned to active duty after six weeks on the injured list to score six points and infuse so much energy in his 21 minutes on the floor.
“We just tied the series, we are just trying to survive,” Uichico added. “As a coach, you can’t ask for anymore from these players. You can’t question their desire of wanting to play and wanting to win.
“We were able to sustain our energy and I appreciate our guys who are playing with their hurts and aches.”
The Kings opened up leads of as many as nine several times in the opening half, as Air21 never found its range. Ginebra would later bloat this to 15 on a couple of occasions in the fourth, the last at 83-68 after a Pacana three-point play off Thomas with 3:48 left.
By then, the Express were dead, entombed and embalmed as the huge crowd that has faithfully rooted for the Kings since the start of the series started its “Gi-ne-bra! Gi-ne-bra!” chants until the final buzzer.
Air21’s outside shots missed more often than not, the Express had very few easy baskets underneath, proof why the Express, despite how hard they tried, looked like a beaten lot early.
“I think we really played bad tonight. Period,” said Air21 coach Bo Perasol. “We did not pass the ball that well and we had a lot of forced shots. It seemed that my players wanted that 3-1 lead so much.
“In that kind of yearning, you tend to try and take over the game,” he added. “We will be better on Friday. Good thing about this loss is that they were only able to equalize. The championship will start on Friday (tomorrow).”
Gary David, the most prolific local for Air21 thus far in the series, was held to 14 points after tossing in 25 in the 97-87 Game 3 win, while KG Canaleta, who went a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the arc on Sunday, laid a big fat egg last night.
Only Thomas, who had 19 points, and Arwind Santos were in twin digits for Perasol after David. Thomas had 16 rebounds but committed six turnovers, mostly on traveling violations while trying to shake off Alexander.
Meanwhile, Kelly Williams, the electrifying Sta. Lucia sophomore, bagged the Most Valuable Player trophy pulling away from Santos is simple rites held before the start of the game.
“Individual awards are great, but they are definitely not my focus,” the 6-foot-7 Detroit native said. “My goal is to help (the team) get another championship and defend our Philippine Cup championship (next season).
“Seeing how our team has grown is really awesome,” last year’s top rookie added. “I am just proud to help Sta. Lucia build a force in this league.”
Williams, who also won the Best Player of the Conference award in the Philippine Cup, had a total of 2,762 points to beat Air21 workhorse Arwind Santos by close to 1,000 points to become the second-fastest player to win the MVP in his career.
Only Benjie Paras, the only Rookie of the Year-MVP awardee, was faster, pulling off the feat in 1989 while playing with Shell.
Santos tallied 1,775, with Helterbrand finishing third with a 1,158-point total. All three made it to the Mythical First Team together with Coca-Cola’s Asi Taulava and another Gin King, Caguioa.
