1997 PBA Governors' Cup Finals

The 1997 PBA Governors Cup Finals was the best-of-7 basketball championship series of the 1997 PBA Governors Cup, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The Alaska Milkmen and Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies played for the 68th championship contested by the league.

1997 PBA Governors Cup Finals

Team Coach Wins Alaska Milkmen Tim Cone 4 Purefoods Carne Norte Eric Altamirano 1
Dates	December 5–14, 1997
MVP	Johnny Abarrientos
Television	VTV (IBC)
Radio network	DWFM
PBA Governors Cup Finals chronology
< 1996 1998 >
PBA Finals chronology
< 1997 Commissioner's 1998 All-Filipino >

The Alaska Milkmen won against Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies, 4 games to 1, to retain the Governor's Cup title for the 4th straight time.

Johnny Abarrientos won on his second back to back PBA Finals MVP in Governors Cup Finals.

Qualification

Alaska		Purefoods
Finished 9–5 (.643), tied for 1st	Eliminations		Finished 8–6 (.571), 2nd
Qualified outright	Quarterfinals		defeated 5th seed Mobiline
defeated Sta. Lucia, 3–0	Best-of-5 Semifinals		defeated San Miguel, 3–2

Series scoring summary

Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Wins
Alaska	76	85	96	92	94	4
Purefoods	87	79	85	75	66	1
Venue	Araneta	Cuneta	Cuneta	Araneta	Cuneta

Games summary

Game 1

VTV

December 5

Alaska Milkmen 76, Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies 87
Pts: Sean Chambers 19		Pts: Mike Jones 33 Alvin Patrimonio 22
Purefoods leads series, 1–0

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

The Beefies ripped the game wide open with a 16–9 burst to take a commanding 53–41 spread. The Milkmen were able to bring down the lead to just four, 55–59. Import Mike Jones came back at the start of the fourth as the Beefies coasted to a 74–64 lead.^[1]

Game 2

VTV

December 7

Alaska Milkmen 85, Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies 79
Pts: Sean Chambers 27		Pts: Mike Jones 32
Series tied, 1–1

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

The Milkmen kept their composure with every Beefies rally, Johnny Abarrientos had two key baskets in an 8–3 run that finally quelled another Beefies offensive.^[2]

Game 3

VTV

December 9

Alaska Milkmen 96, Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies 85
Pts: Sean Chambers 26		Pts: Alvin Patrimonio 27
Alaska leads series, 2–1

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

The Beefies took a 64–61 advantage on an 18–6 run, but the Milkmen, behind Kenneth Duremdes and Sean Chambers took matters into their own hands in the remainder of the third period, giving Alaska a 73–65 lead going into the final quarter. The Beefies could not get closer than seven points at 84–91, entering the last two minutes.^[3]

Game 4

VTV

December 12

Alaska Milkmen 92, Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies 75

Alaska leads series, 3–1

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Game 5

VTV

December 14

Alaska Milkmen 94, Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies 66

Scoring by quarter: 27–10, 24–17, 22–22, 21–17

Alaska wins series, 4–1

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

Alaska jumped to a 27–10 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Beefies played minus injured import Mike Jones and they could not sink a decent number of shots from the field, a 14–0 start by the Milkmen in the second period gave them a 31-point spread, 41–10, as Alaska positioned itself to an early victory party in the first half against a demoralized Beefies Then Johnny Abarrientos on his back to back second Finals MVP and Alaska captures a back to back 2 peat champs seventh title.^[4]

1997 PBA Governors Cup Champions
Alaska Milkmen Seventh title

Rosters

Alaska Milkmen roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. G/F 6   Lastimosa, Jojo 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) USJ–R G 7   Gomez, Roehl 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Cebu G/F 9   Santos, Rodney 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) San Sebastian F/C 12   Bachmann, Richard 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) De La Salle G 14   Abarrientos, Johnny 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Far Eastern F 16   Hawkins, Bong 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) UPHSD C 17   Ramas, Kevin 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Mapúa F 19   Duremdes, Kenneth 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Adamson G/F 20   Chambers, Sean (I) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Cal Poly C 29   Otto, Michael 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Far Eastern C 32   Juinio, Poch 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Philippines C 41   Tanuan, Jack 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Far Eastern G/F 44   Castelo, Merwin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) San Beda C 51   Punzalan, Bryant 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Far Eastern	Head coach   Tim Cone Assistant coach(es)   Joel Banal   Aric del Rosario Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import   Injured

Purefoods Carne Norte Beefies roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. G/F 1   Ravena, Bong 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) UE G/F 3   Lago, Elmer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) De La Salle F 5   Reyes, Edmund 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) UST F 7   Evangelista, Rey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) UST G 8   Sasuman, Genesis 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) Letran G 10   Pumaren, Dindo 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) De La Salle C 11   Feihl, Edward Joseph 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) Adamson F 16   Patrimonio, Alvin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Mapúa G 19   Ang, Freche 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) USLS G/F 24   Jones, Mike (I) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Rutgers C 44   Codinera, Jerry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) UE C 55   Cabatu, Sonny 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) PSBA F 88   Mosqueda, Cadel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Arellano	Head coach   Eric Altamirano Assistant coach(es)   Louie Alas   Frankie Lim   Ryan Gregorio Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import   Injured

Broadcast notes

Game	Play-by-play	Analyst
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Game 4
Game 5

References

1. "Purefoods takes jumpstart". Manila Standard.
2. "Alaska evens series at 1–1". Manila Standard.
3. "Alaska takes 2–1 lead". Manila Standard.
4. "Amazing Alaska keeps title". Manila Standard.

External links

• PBA official website