# 2009 PBA Fiesta Conference finals

The 2009 PBA Fiesta Conference finals was the best-of-7 championship series of the 2009 PBA Fiesta Conference and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The series was a best-of-seven affair and was the 97th championship disputed in the league. The teams competing are first-seed San Miguel Beermen and the second-seed defending champions Barangay Ginebra Kings, two of the three San Miguel Corporation-owned teams.
This was the fourth time the two teams meet in the finals, with San Miguel winning their first two meetings (1989 Reinforced Conference and the 2001 All Filipino Cup). Barangay Ginebra won their latest finals meeting on the conclusion of the 2006–07 PBA Philippine Cup.
This was also the first time in PBA history that a champion of the previous year's Fiesta Conference was able to enter the finals to defend their crown.
After a full 7-game series, San Miguel held off Ginebra in game 7 with an emphatic 90–79 win, with Jonas Villanueva awarded as the Finals MVP.

## Background
### Road to the finals

| San Miguel | San Miguel | Barangay Ginebra | Barangay Ginebra |
| Finished 11–3 (0.785)–1st | Elimination round | Elimination round | Finished 8–6 (0.571)–Tied for 2nd |
| Finished 11–3 (0.785)–1st | Tiebreaker | Tiebreaker | 114–71, against Rain or Shine Elasto Painters–2nd |
| Bye | Wildcard phase | Wildcard phase | Bye |
| Bye ||
| Def. Burger King Whoppers, 4–2 | Semifinals | Semifinals | Def. Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 4–2 |

## Series summary

| Team | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 | Wins |
| San Miguel | 96 | 95 | 103 | 106 | 98 | 98 | 90 | 4 |
| Barangay Ginebra | 102 | 78 | 116 | 104 | 106 | 84 | 79 | 3 |
| Venue | Araneta | Araneta | Araneta | Araneta | Araneta | Araneta | Araneta | |

### Game 1

* C/S9
* July 1 7:30 p.m.
* Recap
San Miguel Beermen 96, Barangay Ginebra Kings 102 :
| Scoring by quarter: 22–26, 19–27, 24–28, 31–21 |||
| Pts: Washington 19 Rebs: Freeman 12 Asts: Washington 3 | Pts: Helterbrand 21 Rebs: Noel 8 Asts: Helterbrand 7 |
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 1–0 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: Cruz, Aldaba, Quilinguen

### Game 2

* C/S9
* July 3 7:00 p.m.
* Recap
San Miguel Beermen 95, Barangay Ginebra Kings 78 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–22, 30–22, 21–20, 24–14 |||
| Pts: Freeman 23 Rebs: Freeman 17 Asts: Racela 5 | Pts: Noel 20 Rebs: Noel, Reavis 8 Asts: Helterbrand 4 |
| Series tied, 1–1 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: Montiel, Balao, Sambrano, N.
With just a few seconds before the game ended, and with a San Miguel win certain, San Miguel players Danny Ildefonso and Marc Pingris were involved with an altercation with a Ginebra fan. Both men were suspended for one game and were fined P30,000 and P10,000 respectively.

### Game 3

* C/S9
* July 5 6:00 p.m.
* Recap
San Miguel Beermen 103, Barangay Ginebra Kings 116 :
| Scoring by quarter: 29–21, 32–27, 17–28, 25–40 |||
| Pts: Freeman 25 Rebs: Freeman 19 Asts: Racela 5 | Pts: Noel 32 Rebs: Noel 10 Asts: Noel 11 |
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 2–1 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 13,500 Referees: Aldaba, Herrera, Ferrer
The Kings, after falling behind by 12 points, outscored the Beermen by 11 points in the third quarter and another 15 points in the final quarter to have a come-from-behind victory to take the series lead. Noel had a triple double and had key plays during the decisive Ginebra run.

### Game 4

* C/S9
* July 8 7:00 p.m.
* Recap
San Miguel Beermen 106, Barangay Ginebra Kings 104 :
| Scoring by quarter: 24–26, 23–20, 24–27, 35–31 |||
| Pts: Freeman 23 Rebs: Freeman 21 Asts: Cortez, Villanueva 4 | Pts: Helterbrand 22 Rebs: Noel 18 Asts: Helterbrand 6 |
| Series tied, 2–2 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: Cruz, Ngo, Pascual
A close game all-throughout with as many as 18 deadlocks in between, Freeman converted a three-point play to increase San Miguel's lead to five; SMB led by as much as 8 in the final two minutes when Ginebra had another run. Eric Menk and Chico Lanete scored to cut the lead to two. Noel tied the ballgame after shooting two free throws off a foul from San Miguel, but Freeman scored on a put-back off Mike Cortez's miss. With less than 30 seconds left, Freeman fouled Noel beyond the three-point line on the act of shooting; Noel missed all of this free-throws, and San Miguel hung on to tie the series 2–2.

### Game 5

* C/S9
* July 13 7:00 p.m.
* Recap
San Miguel Beermen 98, Barangay Ginebra Kings 106 :
| Scoring by quarter: 18–23, 24–33, 26–15, 30–35 |||
| Pts: Cortez 23 Rebs: Freeman 10 Asts: Cortez 5 | Pts: Noel 29 Rebs: Noel 11 Asts: Noel, Helterbrand 4 |
| Barangay Ginebra leads series, 3–2 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 12,000 Referees: Herrera, Ferrer, Mangibin R.
The fifth game of the series was rescheduled to July 13 since the Araneta Coliseum was not available due to a WWE event on July 10 and a UAAP doubleheader on July 12.

### Game 6

* C/S9
* July 15 7:00 p.m.
* Recap
San Miguel Beermen 98, Barangay Ginebra Kings 84 :
| Scoring by quarter: 17–19, 27–15, 24–27, 30–23 |||
| Pts: Freeman 24 Rebs: Freeman 12 Asts: Freeman, Cortez 4 | Pts: Noel 16 Rebs: Noel 11 Asts: Noel 7 |
| Series tied, 3–3 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 16,039 Referees: Aldaba, Quilinguen, Sambrano N.

### Game 7

* C/S9
* July 17 7:00 p.m.
* Recap
San Miguel Beermen 90, Barangay Ginebra Kings 79 :
| Scoring by quarter: 25–15, 20–22, 25–23, 20–19 |||
| Pts: Freeman 29 Rebs: Freeman 18 Asts: Villanueva 7 | Pts: Helterbrand 25 Rebs: Noel 15 Asts: Helterbrand 7 |
| San Miguel wins series, 4–3 |||
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 20,541 Referees: Aldaba, Herrera, Ferrer

## Broadcast notes

The finals is the second championship series of The PBA on C/S.
| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst | Courtside reporters |
| Game 1 | Mico Halili | Andy Jao | Dominic Uy & Lia Cruz |
| Game 2 | Vitto Lazatin | Quinito Henson | Magoo Marjon & Mica Abesamis |
| Game 3 | Richard del Rosario | Norman Black | Chiqui Reyes & Cesca Litton |
| Game 4 | Jude Turcuato | Jason Webb | Dominic Uy & Marga Vargas |
| Game 5 | Sev Sarmienta | Quinito Henson | Patricia Bermudez-Hizon & Mica Abesamis |
| Game 6 | Sev Sarmienta | Andy Jao | Magoo Marjon & Cesca Litton |
| Game 7 | Mico Halili | Jason Webb | Magoo Marjon & Lia Cruz |