MANILA - The Barangay Ginebra Kings played true to their “never say die spirit” as they carved a 97-84 win over Air 21 Express last night to capture the 2008 Smart-PBA Fiesta Conference crown at the Araneta Coliseum.
Chris Alexander, Eric Menk and Ronald Tubid refused to give up when the Express grabbed the lead 84-83 in the last 4:27 en route to their eighth title in the league since 1979.
Coach Jong Uichico was the most jubilant among the Kings as he wrapped up his eighth crown as a coach, including six
with San Miguel Beer where he started in 1999.
After taking the lead anew, 85-84, the Kings held Air21 scorless in a fiery 12-0 wind up to regain the Fiesta Conference title they also won in 2004.
They are the first team in the league to win the Fiesta Conference twice.
Their other titles were in the 2006 Philippine Cup (Uichico), 2004 Philippine Cup (Tanquincen), 2004 Fiesta Conference (Tanquincen), 1997 Commissioners Cup (Jaworski), 1988 All-Filipino (Jaworski), 1986 Open Conference (Jaworski).
Ginebra, still the most popular team in the PBA today, won Game 1 (105-96), Game 4 (90-77) and Game 6 (80-75), while Air21 took Game 2 (124-90), Game 3 (97-87) and Game 5 (76-73)
Tubid topscored for the Kings with 22 points, while Menk finished with 21 and the 7-foot Alexander.
Steven Thomas led the Express with 24 points, Arwind Santos added 19 and Gary David had 18.
