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Beermen edge Gin Kings, win PBA crown

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 07/17/2009 10:33 PM

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MANILA - San Miguel Beer won its 18th title after pulling off a 90-79 victory over Barangay Ginebra in Game 7 of the 2008-09 Motolite-Fiesta Conference finals Friday night in front of a jampacked crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen gave the Kings little room to breathe in the second half, capping the series with an amazing comeback while silencing majority of the 20,541 fans who filled the venue.

San Miguel’s Gabe Freeman easily outclassed his counterpart David Noel, who was in his worst game in the series to typify Ginebra’s on-and-off performance in the do-or-die match.

Freeman capped the game with 29 points and 18 rebounds to lead the Beermen, who stared at a 2-3 deficit in the series but won two successive games to complete an amazing comeback against the defending champions.

Jonas Villanueva led San Miguel’s supporting cast with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, to make him the Fern-C Finals MVP of the series.

Marc Pingris and Danny Ildefonso, two players suspended by the league in Game 3 for assaulting a fan after Game 2, also gave big numbers, contributing 12 and 10 markers, respectively.

“Thank God for this opportunity to win the championship,” said SMB mentor Siot Tanquingcen.

It was Tanquingcen’s fourth straight playoffs win over his former mentor Jong Uichico, whom he won six titles together with San Miguel and Ginebra.

It was a disappointing game for Ginebra, which, despite a 25-point performance from Jayjay Helterbrand, failed to match the intensity of the Beermen.

Noel had only eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and had six of the team’s 21 turnovers.