PBA: Ginebra, Meralco break tie today

                           The Meralco Bolts may have swung the momentum in their favor but beating Barangay Ginebra San  Miguel for the third straight time would be harder than expected as far as bull-strong import Allen Durham is concerned.

                          “With two great teams, momentum doesn’t mean nothing. You just gotta come out and play,” Durham said ahead of today’s fifth game of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals at the cavernous Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

                             At stake in the 6:30 p.m. match held in the venue that can sit 55,000 people is a 3-2 lead and a step closer from capturing the title of the season-ending conference.

                             The Bolts have found their way back from losing the first two games and tie the best-of-seven series at 2-2. Friday night saw them escape the Smart Araneta Coliseum with an 85-83 victory in a crazy ending that saw Ginebra almost forcing an overtime period in the game’s last play.
Meralco coach Norman Black was feeling a sense of relief of having to pull off an escape act.

                            “It’s still difficult to beat the Ginebra team so I’m sure it’s gonna be difficult going forward. But it feels a lot better being 2-2 than 3-1,” said Black.

                           Ginebra mentor Tim Cone hopes to find something out of his sleeves after Meralco was able to solve some pieces in the puzzle in the last two games and guard Sol Mercado out with a sprained left ankle he sustained when he blocked a Jared Dillinger layup in the dying seconds.

                         “We know that Meralco is a good team, they have done a good job of exploiting our weaknesses,” he said.

                         The play of 38-year-old forward Reynel Hugnatan in the last two games has been one of the reasons for Meralco’s resurgence.

                          Forced to play big minutes in lieu of Ranidel de Ocampo’s series-ending calf injury, Hugnatan’s ability to go inside and out have forced Ginebra bigs like Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter out of their comfort zone, setting up good shot opportunities.