Best Import awardee Gabriel Freeman asserted himself inside the paint, bucking foul trouble to score 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds while Marc Pingris was almost unstoppable in the fourth quarter as the San Miguel Beermen evened the Best-of-7 series with a 95-78 drubbing of the Brgy. Ginebra Kings in Game 2 of the 2008-2009 Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

Jay Washington contributed 17 points and Dondon Hontiveros 14 as the Beermen made sure they didn't get into an 0-2 hole.

"The lesson we got is that we really have to keep our composure whatever the situation is. We can't show any mental weakness. We have to be strong every step of the way. It's a given that they would have the crowd on their side," said SMB coach Siot Tanquingcen.

"Basically, we just came out more prepared tonight," said Tanquingcen.

"We're mentally prepared and obviously we're able to defend better. We were badly beaten in rebounding in Game One and that's one concern we made sure to take care of," Tanquingcen added.

Import David Noel had 20 points and 8 boards to pace the Kings. Jayjay Helterbrand chipped in 15, Ronald Tubid 12 and paul Artadi 11.

Scores:

San Miguel 95 -- Freeman 23, Washington 17, Pingris 14, Hontiveros 14, Villanueva 8, Ildefonso 6, Racela 4, Pennisi 4, Pena 3, Cortez 2, Eman 0, Gonzales 0, Calaguio 0.

Ginebra 78 -- Noel 20, Helterbrand 15, Tubid 12, Artadi 11, Baguio 7, Reavis 5, Mamaril 3, Salvacion 3, Menk 2, Lanete 0, Intal 0.

Quarterscores: 20-22, 50-44, 71-64, 95-78

* 0 Comments

Jayjay Helterbrand, Brgy. Ginebra's starting point guard, was awarded the Best Player of the Fiesta Conference for the second straight year after spearheading his team's rise to the finals.

Prior to getting the award, he has conference averages of 17.68 points per game, #1 among locals, on 42.1% FG shooting, including 40.2% from beyond the arc (4th) and 85.1% FT shooting (5th). He also is averaging a 3rd league-best 5.18 assists and 4.09 rebounds in 22 games, playing 36.45 minutes per game.

Helterbrand also leads the league in three-pointers made with 70.

San Miguel import Gabe Freeman, on the other hand, won the Best Import award.

Freeman, the energeting and hardworking forward, has conference averages of 22.83 ppg on 51.7$% FG shooting and 74.6% from the line, and 15.28 rebounds in 32.39 minutes per contest, playing 18 games overall.

* 6 Comments

Paul Artadi set the tone of the game with three three-pointers in the first quarter and Jayjay Helterbrand scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half as the Brgy. Ginebra Kings Held off a late rally by the San Miguel Beermen, opening the 2008-2009 Motolite PBA Fiesta COnference Best-of-7 Finals series with a 102-96 win at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Kings never trailed after taking a 32-22 lead late in the first quarter and led by as much as 18 points before holding on for the win.

"Naka-swerte. We shot pretty well at the start then our defense worked in the second half. Naka-sagot kami sa opensa ng San Miguel when they started to get streaks," said San Miguel coach Jong Uichico.

"We like that situation na maka-una. Baka hindi kami nakasabay kung sila ang naka start ng malakas," Uichico added.

"We're not mentally prepared to play this game. It's not an excuse. Lahat lang talaga, from the coaches to the players, not prepared mentally," rued San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.

"We let them convert 40 percent from the three-point area and get the offensive rebounds when they missed their shots. Our defense shouldn't stop in having them missed their shots. We should only stop when we already get the ball," Tanquingcen added.

"We're still in the drawing board. It so happened that what we talked about and what we planned works in this game," said Uichico.

"We like this situation, winning Game One. But a first game is just a first game. It takes four games to win and we know the talent of San Miguel. They can be so overpowering that we really need to exert extra effort," Uichico added.

Cyrus Baguio finished with 17 points, Ronald Tubid 14 and Artadi and import David Noel contributed 13 points each in a balanced scoring attack for Brgy. Ginebra.

Jay Washington topscored for the Beermen with 19 points. Jonas Villanueva finished with 18, import Gabe Freeman had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Mike Cortez and Dondon Hontiveros chipped in with 12 apiece.

Scores:

Brgy. Ginebra 102 - Helterbrand 21, Baguio 17, Tubid 14, Artadi 13, Noel 13, Salvacion 9, Lanete 5, Mamaril 4, Intal 2, Menk 2, Reavis 2.

San Miguel 96 - Washington 19, Villanueva 18, Freeman 16, Cortez 12, Hontivoeros 11, Racela 7, Ilderfopnso 4, Pena 4, Pennisi 3, Pingris 2.

Quarterscores: 26-22, 53-41, 81-65, 102-96

* 45 Comments

Arwind Santos scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, leading six other players in double figures as the Burger King Whoppers cop third place with a 132-118 win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the 2008-2009 Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

“A third place is, I think, a good enough performance for this team at this point,” assessed Whoppers coach Yeng Guiao, who joined the team only before the season-ending conference started and saw his team undergo more manpower changes in its course.

“This is only my first conference with this team and half of it is new, so the room for improvement is really big for this team.”

Things can only get better, Guiao added, since they own the top pick in the Rookie Draft set August 2 and they intend to use it on 6-foot-9 Japeth Aguilar, should the latter be included in the list of hopefuls.

“The way I see him, he will be the next dominant big man in the league, without a doubt,” said Guiao of the former Ateneo Blue Eagle and Western Kentucky U Hilltopper who has been very impressive in his initial practices with the former’s FIBA-Asia-bound national team.

“We put together a combination of veterans in Gary (David) and Arwind with newcomers like Aaron (Aban) and Mark (Yee). Rookies Beau Belga and Erick Rodriguez also performed way beyond expectations,” he said. “This team can only get better.”

The Elasto Painters, who missed the services of Gabe Norwood, Jay-R Reyes and Rob Wainwright, was led by Mark Isip and Ryan Arana who both established career-highs with 29 and 22 oints respectively.

Scores:

Burger King 132 - Santos 27, David 17, Daniels 16, Rodriguez 15, Aban 13, Sharma 13, Yee 10, Billones 8, Belga 6, Arboleda 4, Cruz 3.

Rain or Shine 118 - Isip 29, Arana 24, Laure 17, Lewis 14, Andaya 9, Tang 8, Ibanes 7, Salangsang 5, Dulay 3, Ejercito 2.

Quarterscores: 36-23, 71-50, 101-80, 132-118.

* 3 Comments