MANILA: After strolling through the first two games of the series, Barangay Ginebra felt the challenge last night.
And though the result was the same, coach Jong Uichico knows that closing out a team like Red Bull will not come easy.
Ginebra encountered rough sailing for the first time last night but prevailed just the same, 94-91, for a 3-0 lead in its best-of-seven Fiesta Cup semifinal series with Red Bull at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
While moving within a victory of a second finals appearance with this franchise, Uichico, instead of basking in the limelight and celebrating the hard-earned win, felt the heat and talked with a sense of urgency.
“Now that we are here, we want to get this over with as soon as possible,” Uichico said. “We know the character of that team (Red Bull) and we know that they would not just give us the game on Sunday.”
“Our mentality when we come out for Game 4 should be that there is no tomorrow for us every time we play.”
Jay-Jay Helterbrand stung Red Bull for the third straight game, and Chris Alexander needed three quarters to warm up and outplay Adam Parada during the most crucial times to key the Ginebra victory.
Helterbrand, once described by former national coach Chot Reyes as the best point guard in Asia , hit his first four three-point shots to finish with 20 points and seven assists. He shared scoring honors with Mark Caguioa.
Alexander, on the other hand, couldn’t keep up with Parada early but had his successes in the fourth, especially late in the game where he scored seven of his total inside the final 3:35.
The 7-foot-1 import closed the door on the Barako when he capped a short burst with a tomahawk slam in a 3-on-2 break that made it 93-86 with 73 seconds left to play.
A win tomorrow would put Ginebra back in the finals for the first time in three conferences, having won the Philippine Cup last year in Uichico’s very first tournament after transferring from San Miguel, now Magnolia.
And the dream final that most of the fans want — Ginebra versus Magnolia — will have to wait after the Beverage Masters fell into a 2-1 hole earlier after taking an 82-78 loss at the hands of Air21 in the first game.
It was the second straight win for the Express in the series and Air21 actually remained unbeaten in four games against the Beverage Masters with Steven Thomas suiting up.
Magnolia’s only victory, which came in Game 1, happened because Thomas chose to orphan the Express for a while and try his luck with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the National Basketball Association.
It wasn’t only Thomas who provided the difference for the Express last night, as Air21 overhauled an eight-point deficit with less than eight minutes remaining behind Gary David and Arwind Santos.
David scored 10 straight points, including two consecutive triples, to highlight a 13-4 run that gave Air21 the lead to stay, 77-76, from 64-72 with 7:58 left.
That was before Santos, who threw up duds practically the entire night, drained the three-pointer of the game with 1:19 left for a four-point Air21 lead. He then added two free throws that sealed the game in the final 9.7 seconds.
“I know Arwind so well, and I knew that there was no chance that he would stop shooting,” coach Bo Perasol said when asked why he kept Santos in the game despite a sloppy first three quarters by the sophomore swingman.
Perasol, though, still refused to acknowledge having a significant edge in the series.
“What’s important is that the team retains its focus and its desire,” Perasol said. “It was also a good thing that this team matured together and that they are one in working for results.
“We know for a fact that Magnolia will try to find ways to come back, and we must be prepared for that,” he added.
