1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals

The 1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals was the best-of-7 series basketball championship of the 1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The Gordon's Gin Boars and Alaska Milkmen played for the 67th championship contested by the league.

1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals

Team Coach Wins Gordon's Gin Boars Robert Jaworski 4 Alaska Milkmen Tim Cone 2
Dates	August 26 - September 7, 1997
MVP	Marlou Aquino
Television	VTV (IBC)
Radio network	DZRH

Gordon's Gin Boars finally ended a six-year title drought, winning their finals series over Alaska Milkmen, 4 games to 2.

Qualification

Gordon's Gin		Alaska
Finished 6–4 (.600), tied for 1st	Eliminations		Finished 5–5 (.500), 5th
Finished 11–7 (.611), tied for 1st	Semifinals		Finished 11–7 (.611), tied for 1st, and, +12 in overall point differential over San Miguel
Won against San Miguel, 106-100	Playoff

Series scoring summary

Team	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Wins
Gordon's Gin	99	102	87	90	81	105	4
Alaska	89	96	86	108	86	79	2
Venue	Cuneta	Araneta	Cuneta	Cuneta	Araneta	Cuneta

Games summary

Game 1

VTV

August 26 7:30 pm

Gordon's Gin Boars 99, Alaska Milkmen 89
Scoring by quarter: 21-26, 24-18, 22-20, 32-25
Pts: Chris King 40 Rebs: Chris King 13 Asts: King 10		Pts: Johnny Abarrientos 23 Rebs: Kevin Holland 18 Asts: Abarrientos, Hawkins 5
Gordon's Gin leads series, 1-0

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City

Chris King registered a triple-double of 40 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, as he figured in Gordon's key third quarter assault when they grabbed a 55-52 lead. Alaska had one last chance to stage a reversal late in the game but King took command, giving the Boars a 94-84 bubble with a minute to go.

Game 2

VTV

August 29 7:00 pm

Gordon's Gin Boars 102, Alaska Milkmen 96

Gordon's Gin leads series, 2-0

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Chris King, despite suffering a pulled left hamstring, never gave up, he hits the dagger three-pointer from a Marlou Aquino pass with 37.2 seconds left to give the Boars a four-point lead. Doctors later found out that King had a strained ligament and a partial tear on his left hamstring.

Game 3

VTV

August 31 6:00 pm

Gordon's Gin Boars 87, Alaska Milkmen 86
Scoring by quarter: 12-18, 24-21, 26-17, 25-30
Pts: Pido Jarencio 23 Rebs: Terry Saldaña 12 Asts: Aquino 5		Pts: Kevin Holland 23 Rebs: Kevin Holland 14 Asts: Abarrientos 10
Gordon's Gin leads series, 3-0

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City

The Boars pulled through a down-the-wire final minute with import Chris King's inside basket and Pido Jarencio's key triple as the Milkmen succumbed to turnovers and missed attempts in their last possessions. Jarencio waxes hot with seven triples, five in the final half, on a 7-of-8 shooting from the three-point range. Alaska had one last crack to win the game but Dwight Lago's jumper went all air as Gordon's takes a 3-0 lead. [1]

Game 4

VTV

September 2 7:00 pm

Gordon's Gin Boars 90, Alaska Milkmen 108
Scoring by quarter: 20-17, 17-28, 22-35, 31-26
Pts: Noli Locsin 18 Rebs: Chris King, Wilmer Ong 5 Asts: King 6		Pts: Johnny Abarrientos 24 Rebs: Kevin Holland 10 Asts: Abarrientos 4
Gordon's Gin leads series, 3-1

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City

Game 5

VTV

September 5 7:00 pm

Gordon's Gin Boars 81, Alaska Milkmen 86
Scoring by quarter: 19-13, 14-26, 29-27, 19-20
Pts: Chris King 19 Rebs: Marlou Aquino 11 Asts: King 10		Pts: Jojo Lastimosa 16 Rebs: Kevin Holland 15 Asts: Abarrientos 7
Gordon's Gin leads series, 3-2

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

Game 6

VTV

September 7 6:00 pm

Gordon's Gin Boars 105, Alaska Milkmen 79
Pts: Chris King 24
Gordon's Gin wins series, 4-2

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City

A decisive 33-5 run in the third quarter as the Boars' avalanche of points blew the game wide open. Gordon's steamrolled to a 30-point lead at 79-49, going into the fourth quarter, while limiting Alaska to an all-time lowest score of five points in a quarter. [2]

1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup Champions
Gordon's Gin Boars Fourth title

Awards

• Finals MVP: Marlou Aquino (Gordon's Gin)
• Best Player of the Conference: Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska) [3]

Rosters

Gordon's Gin Boars roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. G 1 David, Bal 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 148 lb (67 kg) UST F 6 Locsin, Noli 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 250 lb (113 kg) De La Salle G 7 Jaworski, Robert 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) UE F 9 De Joya, Macky 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) San Beda College G/F 11 Gayoso, Jayvee 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Ateneo de Manila G 12 Hizon, Vince 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Ateneo de Manila C 13 Aquino, Marlou 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Adamson G 15 Orquillas, Michael 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) University of Cebu F 16 Cheng, Benny 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Mapua F 17 Saldaña, Antero 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Letran (Jrs) F/C 18 Ong, Wilmer 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Saint La Salle G 25 Jarencio, Pido 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) UST F 44 King, Chris (I) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Wake Forest University G 52 Jaworski, Jr., Robert 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Ateneo de Manila	Head coach Robert Jaworski Assistant coach(es) Rino Salazar Philip Cezar Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import Injured

Alaska Milkmen roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. F 5 Holland, Kevin (I) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 219 lb (99 kg) DePaul University G/F 6 Lastimosa, Jojo 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) San Jose-Recoletos G 7 Gomez, Roehl 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) University of Cebu G/F 9 Santos, Rodney 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) San Sebastian G 10 Fernandez, Boyet 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 165 lb (75 kg) University of San Agustin F/C 12 Bachmann, Richard 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) De La Salle G 14 Abarrientos, Johnny 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Far Eastern G/F 15 Lago, Dwight 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) De La Salle F 16 Hawkins, Bong 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 220 lb (100 kg) PHCR C 17 Ramas, Kevin 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Mapua C 29 Otto, Michael 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Far Eastern C 32 Juinio, Poch 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) State U G/F 44 Castelo, Merwin 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 186 lb (84 kg) San Beda College C 51 Punzalan, Bryant 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Far Eastern	Head coach Tim Cone Assistant coach(es) Joel Banal Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import Injured

Broadcast notes

Game	Play-by-play	Analyst
Game 1	Noli Eala	Andy Jao
Game 2	Ed Picson	Quinito Henson
Game 3	Chino Trinidad	Andy Jao
Game 4	Noli Eala	Quinito Henson
Game 5	Chino Trinidad	Andy Jao
Game 6	Ed Picson	Quinito Henson

References

1. "Scent of title gets stronger for Gordon's". Manila Standard.
2. "Gordon's Gin ends 6-year drought". Manila Standard.
3. "Abarrientos named best player". Manila Standard.

External links

• PBA official website