MANILA, Philippines – With a 114 to 99 victory over Bay Area to recapture the PBA Commissioner’s Cup in front of a record-breaking audience of 54,589 adoring fans at the Philippine Arena on Sunday, Barangay Ginebra successfully carried out its task to stave off an invasion by foreign forces.

The Gin Kings celebrating like they had never done before after winning the championship heralded success for the team as a whole as well as the entire home front. It was an amazing sight inside the enormous Bocaue, Bulacan playing arena.

A throng of almost 54,000 people who were cheering for their proud heroes as they defeated a visiting squad in a game of life and death made the occasion even more memorable.

With a 114-99 victory over Bay Area to recapture the PBA Commissioner’s Cup in front of a record-breaking audience of 54,589 adoring fans at the Philippine Arena on Sunday, BARANGAY Ginebra successfully carried out its task to stave off an invasion by foreign forces.

The Gin Kings celebrating like they had never done before after winning the championship heralded success for the team as a whole as well as the entire home front. It was an amazing sight inside the enormous Bocaue, Bulacan playing arena.

A throng of almost 54,000 people who were cheering for their proud heroes as they defeated a visiting squad in a game of life and death made the occasion even more memorable.

Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone yelled, “Fifty-four thousand! Fifty-four thousand! Fifty-four thousand!” while the audience chanted “Ginebra!” during the award ceremonies.

The Honda Finals MVP was determined to be Standhardinger because of his strong frontcourt play for the Kings versus the Bay Area giants throughout the series.

Malonzo, on the other hand, won the MVP award in the decisive Game 7 thanks to an outstanding double-double performance that included 22 points and 17 rebounds.

The glorious moment they basked in after earlier victories in Games 1 (96 to 81), Game 3 (89 to 82) and Game 5 was something Malonzo said, “When I was traded, I dreamed of this” (101 to 91).

The Kings gave Ginebra a commanding 61 to 39 lead at the half after their scorching first-half runs, which were capped by a jarring two-handed jam by Aguilar at the buzzer.

And the Kings maintained a comfortable cushion throughout the entire game with their unwavering effort, increasing their lead to as much as 28 points.

Tim Cone, the coach of Barangay Ginebra, said that the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup would rank as the hardest to win after his team defeated Brian Goorjian of the Bay Area in the finals.

Cone remarked that he was astounded by Goorjian’s coaching throughout the series, noting that Barangay Ginebra had to modify in a number of ways to defeat the Dragons.

In response to the question of which championship was the hardest, Cone answered, “Without a doubt.” Brian Goorjian is truly exceptional. I’m confident in saying that.

With Bay Area losing Andrew Nicholson to an ankle sprain and Myles Powell filling in for him in the final two games of the championship series, Cone said the coaching staff also had to cope with numerous modifications during the series.

“I thought that we could react to him a lot better,” Cone said of Powell, who came off the bench in Game Six and had a fantastic performance. 

When Nicholson left, “His squad kept its momentum, and the attitude was terrific, and their energy really rose rather than reduced,” said Cone.

Scores at the end of the Match

Barangay Ginebra with 114 points
Individual scores: Brownlee 34, Malonzo 22, Thompson 18, J. Aguilar 14, Standhardinger 12, Tenorio 10, Pringle 3, Gray 1, Pinto 0, Mariano 0

Bay Area with 99 points
Individual scores: Powell 29, Blankley 25, Liu 17, Lam 13, Yang 10, Zhu 5, Ewing 0, Ju 0, Song 0, Reid 0

Scores per quarter:
27 to 21; 61 to 39; 95 to 74; 114 to 99