WHO will bring home the bacon?
It all boils down to one single game now as Barangay Ginebra and Meralco go to war one last time in their most important game of the season as they dispute the championship in Game 7 of their grueling best-of-seven finals in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup.
After six highly-competitive games, the only one that matters now is the winner-take-all rubber match scheduled at 7 p.m. tonight at the gigantic Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan with one of the protagonists being crowned champion.
Will it be a repeat for the Gin Kings or will the Bolts finally breakthrough and win their first championship as a franchise?
Obviously, both teams have opposite sentiments.
Defending champion Ginebra aims to bounce back after blowing its first chance of keeping its title.
“We’re moving on to Game 7 now. This is what everybody wanted to happen,” said Gin Kings coach Tim Cone. “We hope we’ve learned our lesson and win the championship this time around.”
“Our focus is to bring home the trophy and defend the crown,” said Ginebra import Justin Brownlee. “I think we’re going to be prepared. We’re going to come out with great energy and aggression and we will be ready to defend the crown.”
With more confidence than ever, Meralco’s goal is to finally get over the hump and hoist a championship trophy after six years in the league.
“Our goal is always to win the championship and for the first time for Meralco, this is that chance and we’re hoping we can finally get it,” said Bolts coach Norman Black.
“Chance na namin ito. Hindi natin alam kailan ulit mag-finals ang Meralco kaya sana makuha na namin,” said Meralco veteran Reynel Hugnatan, who has been outstanding the entire finals for the Bolts.
On the brink of elimination, Meralco, unlike last season, stepped up to the plate this time around, taking Game 6, 98-91, Wednesday night in front of an all-time PBA record crowd of 56,342 to force Game 7 and give itself its first chance of capturing a championship.
An even bigger crowd is expected for Game 7 as the two squads fight tooth-and-nail all for the sake of glory.
Hugnatan once again came up huge in Game 6, scoring 24 points off the bench to spark the Bolts and give the Gin Kings all sorts of problems with his veteran tricks.
