Ginebra Beats Smart Gilas In Game 1 of Semifinals PBA Fiesta Cup Season 36 2011



Nate Brumfield came out of a slump as he bulldozed his way to the Smart Gilas defenders that resulted to a game 1 win for Ginebra. The Gin Kings won with the score of 97-96. Willie Millers first free throw could have given Ginebra a more comfortable lead in the last 5 seconds of the game but he missed it. Good thing also that he missed the second free throw because Gilas could have called a timeout or could have inbounded the ball for a possible three pointer. That's the right thing to do if there's still enough time for the other team to prepare for a possible game winner. Just miss the free throw and let the other team scramble for the ball a heave a desperation shot. Kudos to Willie! Ginebra now leads the best of 5 semifinals series.

Marcus Douthit has been killing Ginebra especially when Yancy De Ocampo was ejected from the game because of a elbowing Douthit on the head. Nate Brumfield was forced to guard the 6'11 mammoth. Brumfield showed that despite his shorter height, he can still guard a 7 footer. He used his body well against Douthit.


Brumfield had 31 points and 16 rebounds to match that of Douthit's. His shining moment happened when he nailed a three point play against Chris Lutz and Japhet Aguilar.

Coach Jong said that they grinded out this win and they just used their veteran smarts against the younger Smart Gilas.


Mark Caguioa didn't score much for the Kings but he showed his great dribbling skills that killed Gilas. Caguioa had 16 points.

The stars of Smart Gilas also rose to the challenge of their idols. Marnel "Mac Mac" Baracael
showed that he is the go-to-guy of his team when he scored 21 points for Gilas. Tiu also scored big with 12 points. The new star point guard of the PBA Andy Barroca also had great perimeter shooting as he scored 15 big points.


Mark Caguioa said.
"We're older, we're smarter, we're vets. They're younger and have the fresh legs. But that doesn't mean they can outrun us. That doesn't mean hindi namin sila kayang sabayan."