2016 PBA Governors' Cup Finals

The 2016 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors' Cup Finals was the best-of-7 championship series of the 2016 PBA Governors' Cup, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Meralco Bolts competed for the 16th Governors' Cup championship and the 118th overall championship contested by the league.^[1]

2016 PBA Governors' Cup Finals

Team Coach Wins (3) Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Tim Cone 4 (4) Meralco Bolts Norman Black 2
Dates	October 7–19, 2016
MVP	LA Tenorio (Barangay Ginebra San Miguel)
Television	Local: Sports5 TV5 PBA Rush (HD) International: AksyonTV International
Announcers	see Broadcast notes
Radio network	Radyo5 (DWFM)
Announcers	see Broadcast notes
Referees
Game 1: A. Herrera, N. Quilinguen, R. Dacanay, M. Montoya Game 2: J. Mariano, S. Pineda, M. Flordeliza, E. Boticario Game 3: P. Balao, N. Guevarra, J. Narandan, E. Boticario Game 4: P. Balao, J. Mariano, M. Montoya, M. Flordeliza Game 5: N. Quilinguen, E. Tangkion, B. Oliva, E. Boticario Game 6: N. Quilinguen, J. Mariano, M. Montoya, J. Narandan
PBA Governors' Cup Finals chronology
< 2015 2017 >
PBA Finals chronology
< 2016 Commissioner's 2016–17 Philippine >

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel won the series, four games to two, ending their eight-year title drought. This is the first Governors' Cup and 9th overall championship of the Ginebra franchise.^[2]

Background

Road to the finals

Main article: 2016 PBA Governors' Cup

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel		Meralco Bolts
Finished 8–3 (.727): Tied with San Miguel at 2nd place	Elimination round		Finished 6–5 (.545): Tied with Mahindra and Alaska at 4th place
.946 (3rd place)	Tiebreaker*		2–0 (head-to-head); Def. Mahindra, 104–99 (4th place)
Def. Alaska in one game, 109–104 (twice-to-beat advantage)	Quarterfinals		Def. Mahindra in one game, 105–82 (twice-to-beat advantage)
Def. San Miguel, 3–2	Semifinals		Def. TNT, 3–1

Head-to-head matchup

July 30 5:00 PM

Boxscore

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 107, Meralco Bolts 93
Scoring by quarter: 32–21, 19–26, 30–24, 26–22
Pts: Brownlee 26 Rebs: Thompson 7 Asts: Brownlee 6		Pts: Hodge 19 Rebs: Durham 12 Asts: Durham 8

Quezon Convention Center, Lucena City, Quezon Referees: E. Tangkion, B. Oliva, R. Dacanay, M. Montoya

Series summary

 

The players of Barangay Ginebra and Meralco during the player introductions before the start of Game 1.

Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Wins
Barangay Ginebra	109	82	103	88	92	91	4
Meralco	114*	79	107	86	81	88	2
Venue	Araneta	Araneta	Araneta	Araneta	Araneta	Araneta

*overtime

Game 1

TV5

October 7 7:00pm

Boxscore

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 109, Meralco Bolts 114 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 28–31, 25–11, 27–33, 22–27, Overtime: 7–12
Pts: Tenorio 36 Rebs: Aguilar 12 Asts: Mercado, Thompson 5		Pts: Durham 46 Rebs: Durham 13 Asts: Newsome 9
Meralco leads series, 1–0

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 14,522 Referees: A. Herrera, N. Quilinguen, R. Dacanay, M. Montoya

Jimmy Alapag of the Meralco Bolts sank two three-pointers, tying the all-time record for most triples in a career, which stands at 1,242, held by Allan Caidic for 17 years. The second three-pointer proved to be critical for the game as it gave the Bolts a 101–100 lead with 33 seconds remaining. However, a game-tying floater from Ginebra's LA Tenorio brought the game into overtime, with 102 apiece after the Bolts' import Allen Durham split two free throws.

In overtime, Durham started a 7–0 run of himself and Meralco never looked back, winning the very first PBA finals game of their history. He finished with 46 points, 13 boards and 7 assists, and rookie teammate Chris Newsome added 17 markers and was a rebound and assist shy of a triple-double.

Game 2

TV5

October 9 6:30pm

Boxscore

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 82, Meralco Bolts 79
Scoring by quarter: 24–21, 19–23, 26–16, 13–19
Pts: Brownlee 32 Rebs: Brownlee 12 Asts: Mercado 4		Pts: Durham 22 Rebs: Durham 15 Asts: Alapag 6
Series tied, 1–1

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 18,287 Referees: J. Mariano, S. Pineda, M. Flordeliza, E. Boticario

Prior to the game, TNT KaTropa's Jayson Castro was awarded as the Best Player of the Conference, tying San Miguel Beermen's June Mar Fajardo with four BPC awards for second all-time. Meralco Bolts' import Allen Durham was also given the Bobby Parks Best Import of the Conference award, making him the second consecutive Bolts' reinforcement to be given with that award (Arinze Onuaku won the award during the Commissioner's Cup).

Alapag became the all-time leader for three-pointers made in a career, breaking the tie with Allan Caidic's record of 1,242 triples which he reached during Game 1. He made one three-pointer in the game to finish with 1,243 triples in his career. However, this served as a consolation for the Bolts as they lost a tight game against Ginebra. They failed to make a three-pointer in two attempts to tie the game. Barangay Ginebra then tied the series, splitting the first two games.

Game 3

TV5

October 12 7:00pm

Boxscore

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 103, Meralco Bolts 107
Scoring by quarter: 20–18, 24–30, 25–23, 34–36
Pts: Brownlee 42 Rebs: Brownlee 13 Asts: Thompson 7		Pts: Durham 36 Rebs: Durham 20 Asts: Newsome 7
Meralco leads series, 2–1

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 14,285 Referees: P. Balao, N. Guevarra, J. Narandan, E. Boticario

Game 4

TV5

October 14 8:10pm

Boxscore

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 88, Meralco Bolts 86
Scoring by quarter: 20–13, 26–22, 12–39, 30–12
Pts: Aguilar 19 Rebs: Brownlee 10 Asts: Thompson 5		Pts: Durham 34 Rebs: Durham 20 Asts: Hugnatan, Newsome 7
Series tied, 2–2

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 17,878 Referees: P. Balao, J. Mariano, M. Montoya, M. Flordeliza

Game 5

TV5

October 16 6:30pm

Boxscore

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 92, Meralco Bolts 81
Scoring by quarter: 33–19, 21–20, 19–20, 19–22
Pts: Brownlee 29 Rebs: Brownlee 10 Asts: Tenorio 8		Pts: Durham 20 Rebs: Durham 18 Asts: Durham 6
Barangay Ginebra leads series, 3–2

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 22,196 Referees: N. Quilinguen, E. Tangkion, B. Oliva, E. Boticario

Game 6

TV5

October 19 7:00pm

Boxscore

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 91, Meralco Bolts 88
Scoring by quarter: 18–27, 14–18, 33–21, 26–22
Pts: Brownlee 31 Rebs: Aguilar, Brownlee 9 Asts: Tenorio 6		Pts: Newsome 19 Rebs: Durham, Hodge 8 Asts: Durham 10
Barangay Ginebra wins series, 4–2

Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 22,528 Referees: N. Quilinguen, J. Mariano, M. Montoya, J. Narandan

 

Justin Brownlee attempting the game winning three point shot in Game 6.

Meralco came out with an 18–4 run in the first quarter and was leading with 13 points coming into halftime. Robert Jaworski, the former playing coach of Barangay Ginebra from 1985 to 1998, was watching in the venue to support his former team. He also came to Barangay Ginebra's locker room to give some words of encouragement to the players during halftime.^[3]

LA Tenorio came out and scored 21 points in the second half to lead Barangay Ginebra's comeback.^[4]

With 5.5 seconds remaining, Barangay Ginebra had the final possession with both teams ties at 88-all. Justin Brownlee received the inbound pass and made a three-point attempt several feet behind the rainbow arc with Allen Durham closely guarding him. He made the basket as the buzzer sounded.

Rosters

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 2016 PBA Governors' Cup roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # POB Name Height Weight College G 0   Bonifacio, Franklin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1990–03–01 Las Positas G 3   Mercado, Sol 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1984–05–06 Biola G 5   Tenorio, LA 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 151 lb (68 kg) 1984–07–09 Ateneo G 6   Thompson, Scottie (R) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1993–07–12 UPHSD F/C 10   Marcelo, Dave 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 223 lb (101 kg) 1989–02–22 San Beda G 13   Helterbrand, Jayjay 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1976–10–14 Kentucky State F 14   Salva, Nico 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 1990–03–08 Ateneo F 19   Villamor, Dennice (R) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1990–07–01 National-U C 20   Slaughter, Greg   7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 258 lb (117 kg) 1988–05–19 Ateneo F/C 25   Aguilar, Japeth 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) 1987–01–25 Western Kentucky F 27   Cruz, Jervy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1986–09–09 UST F 31   Mariano, Aljon (R) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1992–08–03 UST F/C 32   Brownlee, Justin (I) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1988–04–23 St. John's G/F 34   Ellis, Chris 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1988–12–05 Mary Hardin–Baylor F 38   Devance, Joe 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1982–02–19 UTEP G 47   Caguioa, Mark (C) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1979–11–19 Glendale CC (CA)	Head coach   Tim Cone Assistant coach(es)   Richard del Rosario (1st Assistant)   Olsen Racela   Freddie Abuda Team manager   Alfrancis Chua^[a]   Raymond Rodriguez (Assistant) Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended (R) Rookie (3x3) Assigned to 3x3 team   Injured Roster

Meralco Bolts 2016 PBA Governors' Cup roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # POB Name Height Weight College F/C 0   Faundo, Bryan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1984–02–18 Letran G 1   Atkins, Simon (IN) 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1988–07–19 De La Salle G 3   Alapag, Jimmy (C) 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 1977–12–30 Cal State San Bernardino F 5   Durham, Allen (I) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1988−07–09 Grace Christian F 7   Hodge, Cliff 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1988–02–03 Reedley G 9   Amer, Baser (R) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1992–09–29 San Beda G 10   Uyloan, Jonathan 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1983–11–26 Golden West G 11   Newsome, Chris (R) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1990–06–25 Ateneo G 13   Buenafe, Ryan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1990–02–01 Ateneo G/F 15   Sedurifa, Joseph (R / IN) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 1990–09–04 Centro Escolar G 17   Caram, Anjo 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) 159 lb (72 kg) 1991–01–14 San Beda F/C 18   Chua, Justin 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1989–07–13 Ateneo C 19   Al-Hussaini, Rabeh 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1988–08–11 Ateneo G/F 20   Dillinger, Jared   6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1984–01–06 Hawaiʻi F/C 21   Hugnatan, Reynel 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1978–11–03 Manila F 22   Ferriols, John (IN) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1974–09–09 USJ–R F 23   Nabong, Kelly 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 227 lb (103 kg) 1988–11–17 SRJC G/F 24   Guevarra, Rey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1986–11–24 Letran F 25   Bono, Ken (IN) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 280 lb (127 kg) 1984–07–19 Adamson	Head coach   Norman Black Assistant coach(es)   Ronnie Magsanoc (1st Assistant)   Luigi Trillo   Patrick Fran   Xavier Nunag   Gene Afable   Jamike Jarin Team manager   Paolo Trillo Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (IN) Inactive (S) Suspended (R) Rookie (3x3) Assigned to 3x3 team   Injured Roster

Broadcast notes

The Governors' Cup Finals was aired on TV5 with a separate live broadcast on PBA Rush (both in standard and high definition). TV5's radio arm, Radyo5 provided the radio play-by-play coverage.

Sports5 also provided online livestreaming via their official YouTube account using the TV5 feed. (Available only in the Philippines)

The PBA Rush broadcast aired the championship series with English-language commentary.

Game	Sports5			PBA Rush (English)
	Play-by-play	Analyst(s)	Courtside reporters	Play-by-play	Analyst(s)	Courtside reporters
Game 1	Magoo Marjon	Andy Jao and Bo Perasol	Rizza Diaz	James Velasquez	Vince Hizon	Carla Lizardo
Game 2	Charlie Cuna	Dominic Uy and Jason Webb	Erika Padilla	Chuck Araneta	Jolly Escobar	Carlo Pamintuan
Game 3	Sev Sarmenta	Eric Reyes and Yeng Guiao	Sel Guevara	Jutt Sulit	Charles Tiu	Mara Aquino
Game 4	Charlie Cuna	Eric Reyes and Alex Compton	Rizza Diaz	Chiqui Reyes	Ali Peek	Chino Lui Pio
Game 5	Magoo Marjon	Dominic Uy and Alex Compton	Erika Padilla	Carlo Pamintuan	Vince Hizon	Carla Lizardo
Game 6	Charlie Cuna	Yeng Guiao and Alex Compton	Sel Guevara	Chuck Araneta	Ali Peek	Chino Lui Pio

• Additional Game 6 crew:
  • Trophy presentation: James Velasquez
  • Dugout celebration interviewer: Denise Tan

References

1. Bolt from the blue: Meralco stuns TNT in Game Four to reach first-ever PBA Finals, Karlo Sacomos, spin.ph, October 3, 2016
2. Ginebra conquers Meralco to win first championship in 8 years, Jane Bracher, Rappler, October 19, 2016
3. Jaworski tells Ginebra at halftime: You have to loosen up, Mark Giongco, Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 19, 2016
4. Brownlee nails buzzer-beater as Ginebra wins title, ends drought, Mark Giongco, Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 19, 2016

External links

• PBA official website