Barangay Ginebra staved off elimination, playing with a never-say-die spirit, as it overhauled a 9-point deficit to beat San Mig Coffee, 94-91, in a tense finish and force Game 7 in their PBA Philippine Cup Final For series at the Araneta Coliseum Monday night.

The deciding game will be played 8 p.m. Wednesday with the winner to face Rain or Shine in a best-of-seven championship series.

A visibly relieved Ginebra coach Ato Agustin said: “We played great defense especially in the third quarter. I told them be patient. Let's cut the lead slowly. Luckily, the breaks went to our side. We needed to pressure. We needed to be aggressive. Kailangan na naming ibigay lahat.”

Basketball icon and former Ginebra playing coach, Robert Jaworski, attended the game and at the half, entered the Ginebra dugout to give inspirational message while the Kings were staring at a nine-point deficit, 41-50.

“You can do it. Enjoy the game and give what your fans deserve,” said Jaworski.

As if on cue, star point guard LA Tenorio and Mark Caguioa led a Ging Kings revival in the last two quarters and went on to stun San Mig with an 11-5 windup for the victory that leveled the series at 3-3.

“Sen. Jaworski also noticed that we’re overeager. He told us to be a little patient as we couldn’t overhaul a big deficit instantly. He did inspire us,” said Tenorio.

James Yap, whose critical trey in the closing seconds gave San Mig victory in Game Five, flubbed an equally important three-point try in this game, and the Kings escaped with a nail-biter, forcing the winner-take-all game also at the Big Dome.

Tenorio, finished with a solid 16-point performance, including eight points that ignited the Kings’ third-quarter run. Caguioa and big man Greg Slaughter then took over the game in the homestretch.

Caguioa top-scored with 21 points while Slaughter had 20 markers

“All I did was to pray and pray to get the strength for this game,” said Tenorio.

The scores:

Ginebra (94) Caguioa 21, Slaughter 20, Tenorio 16, Aguilar 13, Baracael 9, Helterbrand 5, Ellis 4, Reyes 4, Mamaril 2, Monfort 0, Urbiztondo 0.

San Mig Super Coffee (91) Pingris 20, Simon 17, Barroca 14, Sangalang 12, Reavis 9, Yap 9, Melton 5, Devance 3, Mallari 2, De Ocampo 0.

Quarter scores: 22-24, 41-50, 73-74, 94-91