Game 7 Mini-Recap (Ginebra versus Air21, PBA Fiesta Conference Finals)

After a grueling series, Barangay Ginebra Kings won the championship against a worthy opponent in Air21 Express in the Game 7 of the PBA Fiesta Conference Finals. With key players not playing or playing injured, the Ginkings put a lot of heart to finally pull it off.

At the start of the game, Ginebra blasted off the Express, 6-0, until the opponents had solved the mini-scoring drought. The Ginkings also lived on second chance opportunities with Chris Alexander and Alex Crisano scoring on putbacks.

Second quarter came, and the Express found a solution to have the game within reach. However, they gave up a lot of fouls, including two flagrant fouls from Homer Se and Wynne Arboleda. Fortunately for them, the Ginkings' freethrow shooting was sour, especially when Paul Artadi and Chris Alexander were on the line.

During the first half, the key players for the Ginkings were the guards; Junthy Valenzuela, Ronald Tubid, and Artadi doing a lot of scoring and energizing the whole team. Commendable performance also from Alexander and Crisano for those rebounds. The score is 46-49 in favor of Ginebra.

Third quarter was the "Eric Menk Show." Major Pain was a monster; his playing reminiscent of his MVP performance. The Express put different looks on him to no avail. Menk was rested for sometime, and Ginebra didn't score (even with Mark Caguioa is on the floor). Then it was Thomas' turn with his three-point plays. Then Valenzuela was injured while committing a turnover, never to play again. Alexander suffered from cramps but managed to return. Menk had 8 points and 5 rebounds in that quarter alone.

Finally, the fourth quarter. Ginebra committed a lot of turnovers, which the Express translated into turnover points. Also, Air21 managed to set up their offense better than the Ginkings, thanks to guys like Arwind Santos and Egay Billiones. To add up Ginebra's woes, Alexander committed his fifth personal foul off Thomas. A Gary David drive grabbed the lead for the Express, and an Arwind Santos dunk put an emphasis on it.

Then it was a seesaw battle for the two teams.

However, Chris Alexander increased Ginebra's lead to three, and never turned back. Aside from scoring crucial points, Alexander's defensive prowess intimidated Air21 offense. Air21 forced their shots and never grabbed any offensive rebound unlike in the early goings of the quarter. It was a freethrow shooting practice for Ginebra as Air21 resorted to fouling players, and they made almost all of it.

At the end of the series, Eric Menk and Ronald Tubid were proclaimed co-Finals MVP, and Menk was the Best Player of the game.