MANILA, Philippines – Justin Brownlee was the hero of Game 6, and LA Tenorio was the Finals MVP, but for Ginebra head coach Tim Cone, it was the talismanic pair of Mark Caguioa and J-Jay Helterbrand who saved the 2016 PBA Governors' Cup Finals.

It was Brownlee, the replacement import who cramped up in his first game, who drained the biggest shot of the series – a buzzer-beating three-pointer in Game 6 that handed Ginebra a 91-88 win and their first title in eight years.

It was Tenorio who brought Ginebra back into the contest after Meralco had pulled away by double-digits in the first half, draining shot after shot in the third quarter to trim the deficit and make it a one-possession game in the fourth.

But without Helterbrand and Caguioa, they might not have even gotten to the stage.

"Mark and Jay," Cone said after Game 6, "They saved the whole series."

It was Helterbrand who fired up Ginebra – and their legion of fans – in Game 4, just as Meralco was threatening to pull away and take a 3-1 series lead. It was Helterbrand who waxed hot from beyond the arc in the fourth period, helping erase a 16-point deficit. Caguioa joined the party in the final frame, and Joe Devance drained the eventual game-winner, as they conspired to give the Gin Kings an 88-86 win and tie the series at 2-2.

"They (Helterbrand and Caguioa) were the series-savers," Cone said emphatically. "At a time when it looked like we were ready to give up, they wouldn't let it happen. They honestly wouldn't let it happen."

"They saved the series in that Game 4," he added. "Without that Game 3, we wouldn't be sitting here. Probably would have been finished in Game 5."

Caguioa and Helterbrand, both at the tail-end of their glittering PBA careers, were truly determined to win the championship, and it showed in their performances not just in games, but even during practices, according to Cone.

"They played with such intensity and desire and hunger, that it rubbed off on everybody," said Cone of the pair, who still drew the loudest cheers from the crowd whenever they were sent into the playing court.

"It became not a thing of 'I want to win it for me.' It became a thing of 'I want to win it for Mark,' and 'I want to win it for J-Jay' because they were so hungry to win," he added. "We could see it every day."

Cone said that the normally taciturn Helterbrand came to practice "talking to everybody" and was screaming and yelling off the bench during games.

"They were amazing," he said. "They were absolutely amazing."

Helterbrand and Caguioa, after going through so much with the Gin Kings – from glory to heartbreak and all the way back – could not contain their emotions after the victory.

"It's been a heck of a birthday week for me," said Helterbrand, who turned 40 the day he towed Ginebra to victory in Game 4. "All glory goes to God."

Caguioa, for his part, relished the end not just of their championship drought, but of the relentless jokes that plagued the proud franchise during their run of futility.

"Wala nang kangkungan!" Caguioa yelled in a post-game interview, as the crowd of over 20, 000 Ginebra fans cheered him on.

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