San Miguel, Ginebra try to break 2-2 series tie

MANILA, Philippines - Expect Game 5 of the Motolite -Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Cup Finals to be another highly-charged match as San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra try to get the edge in the best-of-seven series. The title series, now turned into a race-to-two affair, is tied at 2-2 and majority of the Game 5 winners went on to win the championship based on PBA statistics. League statistics showed 68 percent of the team that claimed Game 5 has a lot of success in bagging the title. Translated into numbers, 19 of the 28 teams to win the fifth game with a tied best-of-seven series proceeded to win the title. The Beermen and Kings are set to battle in the crucial fifth game of their heated series Monday at the Araneta Coliseum. San Miguel made this possible after a gripping 106-104 win in Game 4 last Wednesday. Of course, statistics doesn’t guarantee a championship as only one team in the last four PBA Finals managed to bring home the bacon after breaking a 2-2 series. Sta. Lucia was the last team to do it against Purefoods in the 2007-08 Philippine Cup. Barangay Ginbera coach Jong Uichico, however, isn’t concerned about the figures, although he’s conscious with one aspect where his Kings were obviously outnumbered. “Just take two or four points off those we could have won it," he said shortly after the league’s crowd darlings lost Game 4. Uichico is obviously talking about the big discrepancy in offensive rebounds. The Beermen had 24 off the offensive glass, which they translated into 23 points. In contrast, the Kings only had eight offensive rebounds. Perhaps, the most crucial of that San Miguel offensive board was snatched by import Gabe Freeman, whose rebound off a missed by Mike Cortez with 26.3 seconds left put the Beermen in front for good, 103-101. “In the end, we thought it all boiled down to those missed free throws," Uichico said. “But San Miguel’s offensive rebounds that really hurt us most." For the record, Barangay Ginebra went 23-of-33 from the foul line compared to San Miguel’s 18-of-27 shooting from the same area. – GMANews.TV