In one of the few times Team Lakay attended a sporting event as fans instead of participants, four of its members still got into friendly competition mode during one of the biggest events of the Philippines’ favorite sport.
The timing of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s winning roll gave Head Coach Mark Sangiao and strawweight phenom Lito Adiwang consecutive “wins” over reigning strawweight champion Joshua Pacio and bantamweight contender Stephen Loman.
The four were on site during Game 4 of the 2022 PBA Governors’ Cup finals between Ginebra and the Meralco Bolts, joining 17,298 paying fans in attendance at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
While they were there to promote ONE Championship’s upcoming events, it turned out Sangiao is a long-time Ginebra fan. Obviously, he was rooting for the Gin Kings, along with Adiwang, in this one.
On the other hand, Pacio and Loman were part of the Bolts orange brigade, setting up the friendly head-to-head rivalry for the night.
According to the Tie Breaker Times, the wager at stake was a dinner.
At the end of the day, Sangiao and Adiwang got more what they bargained for during this Holy Wednesday affair.
First, they got to witness first hand the Kings pocket a thrilling Game 4 win to tie the series, 2-2.
A 27-13 third quarter burst from the Kings pulled themselves in front by 14 from a tight 41-all first half.
The lead ballooned to 20 early in the fourth but Meralco cut it down to 7, 85-78, with under three minutes to go.
A triple by Scottie Thompson, however, defused the rally attempts and preserved the Kings’ win.
Second, Game 4 was also the day conference awards were handed out and two Ginebra stalwarts completed the night for the Gin Kings.
Thompson bagged his first Best Player of the Conference Award while Justine Brownlee got his second Best Import Award.
Thompson won handily with his total points ahead by 38% over his closest pursuer.
He garnered 480 media votes, 401 statistical points, 150 PBA votes and 97 player votes for a total of 1,128.
TNT’s Mickey Williams (699), Northport’s Robert Bolick (581) and Arwind Santos (428), and Phoenix’s Matthew Wright (416) round up the top five.
According to the Official PBA website, Thompson scored 12.82 points on 48% shooting, grabbed 9.45 rebounds, issued 6 assists, and stole the ball 1.36 times a game during the elimination round.
His rebound average was second only to June Mar Fajardo (11.18) and his totals (104) was third behind Fajardo (123) and Arwind Santos (106) among local players. Santos had the luxury of playing 12 games to Thompson’s 11 due to the Batang Pier’s knockout game against the Fuel Masters for the eight seed.
His assists average was fifth behind Bolick (8.78), Alex Cabagnot (7.50), Matthew Wright (7.33) and Jio Jalalon (6.80). His totals, however, was fourth overall, bumping Cabagnot, who missed a big chunk of games due to injury.
Meanwhile, Brownlee was still the ultimate jack-of-all-trades import that he was. His numbers do not standout over those of his contemporaries but all parts of his balanced production were always way above than the average.
Brownlee scored 28.64 markers, hauled 10.45 rebounds, assisted 5.91 times, stole the ball 1.36 times and swatted 1.09 shots a game in the elimination round. He’s done that while shooting 52% from the field and 37% from long distance.
Both were instrumental in the Game 4 win. Brownlee contributed 27 point and 18 rebounds while Thompson chipped in 27 markers.
Third, the Team Lakay Ginebra duo were back home probably sitting comfortably on their couches to watch the Kings get back-to-back tough wins for Ginebra’s 14th PBA championship.
Brownlee and Thompson were again spectacular in Game 5. The Best Import registered 40 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists and the Best Player of the Conference barely missed a triple double with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Kings seemingly got control of the match by establishing a 94-80 lead with 8:35 left in the game but Tony Bishop ignited a Bolts’ late run that cut it to just one, 98-97, 4:44 left.
Christian Standhardinger and Thompson, however, joined hands to thwart the uprising. Standhardinger canned back-to-back mid range jumpers to restore a five-point lead while Thompson snatched a big offensive board over Bishop and translate it into a cold-blooded triple to restore it to 8, ending the Bolts’ threat.
Brownlee accounted for 5 of the Kings conference-high 16 triples.
It was LA Tenorio and Standhardinger’s turn to shine during the championship-clinching game. Tenorio buckled down to pour in a conference-high 30 points while Standhardinger chipped in 19 points and 16 rebounds.
The duo put the Kings on their backs in staying toe-to-toe with the Bolts in the first half as Brownlee was relatively silent with a measly 2-point output on just a single field goal attempt in the first half.
The Kings, however, pulling away in the third when Brownlee became aggressive and caught fire.
Lastly, Thompson was also awarded the Finals MVP to complete the Kings romp that probably made Sangiao and Adiwang sound off the “Ginebra” chant along with millions of others who belong to Ginebra Nation.
By Armando Bolislis
