THE Barangay Ginebra Kings pulled away in the fourth canto to put down the Meralco Bolts, 105-93, and capture the PBA Governors’ Cup championship in Game Five of the best-of-seven finals series at the packed Mall of Asia Arena on Friday, January 17, 2020.
With over 15,000 fans witnessing the game, most of them cheering for the longtime crowd darlings, Ginebra got scintillating performances from Justin Brownlee, Japeth Aguilar and Stanley Pringle in the final canto to grab the title-clinching victory. The Kings won the series, 4-1, for their third Governors’ Cup crown in the last four years and 12th overall.
For Ginebra head coach Tim Cone, the title was his 22nd.
Ginebra though, had to claw back from a 14-point deficit in the second period with a torrid 14-1 third period surge that gave them a 66-60 lead with 2:45 to go in that stretch. Meralco regained their bearings to tie the game up at 77-all but Ginebra dropped a 19-9 counterattack sparked by Pringle, Brownlee and Aguilar who finished the game off with several thunderous slam dunks.
Aguilar finished the game with 25 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, and was named as the Finals Most Valuable Player. Brownlee also had a triple-double with 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while Pringle chipped in 17 points, four boards and eight assists.
Scottie Thompson and LA Tenorio also had solid performances for Ginebra, the former piling up 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists while the latter finished with 12 markers.
Meralco, which played without starting center Raymond Almazan who suffered a knee injury, got 29 points and 21 rebounds from import Allen Durham.