Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — Tens of thousands of delirious fans stood up and rocked the coliseum with deafening cries of “Ginebra! Ginebra!” This could only mean one thing: the most popular team in the PBA was displaying once again its vaunted never-say-die spirit. Thanks to the late-game heroics of import Vernon Macklin, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings bundled out the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters with a thrilling 81-79 victory Monday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to barge into the Final 4 of the PBA Commissioner's Cup. The Kings reprised their 90-83 win against the E-Painters Saturday night to keep their championship hopes alive. It was a humbling loss for the E-Painters who failed to advance to the semifinals after two straight Finals appearance despite their twice-to-beat advantage. Ginebra thus became the first seventh-seeded squad in the PBA to defeat a team with a twice-to-beat edge since the 2002 Commissioner's Cup when Talk N Text achieved such feat against Sta. Lucia. The Kings likewise became the ninth team to hurdle a twice-to-beat disadvantage since the format was created in 1996. Ginebra now faces Talk N Text in a best-of-five semifinal series beginning Friday. The Kings won despite top gunner Mark Caguioa still sidelined by a knee injury and top point guard LA Tenorio struggling in offense, going 1-of-12 from the field. The victory was nothing short of a miracle for the Kings. First, the pressure-packed marginal two free throws were scored by Macklin who only had a 47 percent free throw shooting clip going into the do-or-die match. Second, Macklin showed devastating form on both ends of the court despite suffering from an abdominal strain. Third, Rain or Shine had at least four chances to tie or win the game in the last few seconds but failed to score even at point-blank range. Rain or Shine was up 79-76 with 2:37 left after Paul Lee scored on a running jumper. After Chris Ellis split his charities, Macklin scored on a putback to tie the game at 79-all with 52 seconds left. After the E-Painters failed to score, Macklin was sent to the stripe with 11.1 seconds left. All eyes were on the powerhouse Ginebra import who earlier bungled two charities. But despite the overwhelming pressure, Macklin calmly sank the two free throws to break the game's last deadlock. Completing his heroics, Macklin then swatted away a layup by a driving Jeff Chan. The E-Painters still kept possession with 6.2 seconds. Lee launched a corner three-pointer but missed. Chan managed to grab the rebound but missed an open follow-up shot. With a second left, Gabe Norwood tried to tip-in Chan's missed shot but came up short as the coliseum packed with more than 12,000 fans erupted in jubilation as the final buzzer sounded.
