A twice-to-beat disadvantage is no death knell. Bal David and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel should know. They defied the odds once. In fact, they were the first to do so, pulling off what was then deemed almost improbable by beating a higher seeded team twice in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals of the 1999 McDonalds PBA All-Filipino Cup.
Ginebra and The Flash didn’t just beat any team either. They built the Mobiline Phone Pals, a juggernaut of a team led by Asi Taulava (6-9), a highly touted direct hire; Andy Seigle (6-10), the 1997 Rookie of the Year; Jeffrey Cariaso, the 1995 Rookie of the Year; and Glenn Capacio and Patrick Fran, pesky defenders who could shoot from deep.
The Phone Pals started 7-0 that conference and looked primed for a championship run. Taulava was as good as advertised, while Seigle proved to be a willing and reliable frontcourt sidekick. Cariaso, meanwhile, blossomed into one of the PBA’s premier wings, a three-level scorer who also played elite defense.
True enough, Mobiline finished at the top of the standings after the double-round eliminations with an 11-5 record—two games clear of the Alaska Milkmen, Tanduay Gold Rhum Masters, and Formula Shell Zoom Masters. Incidentally, the 1999 McDonalds PBA All-Filipino Cup used the same format as the 2024-25 Philippine Cup, where the top four teams after the elimination round are rewarded with a twice-to-win advantage in the quarterfinals. That meant Mobiline, Alaska, Tanduay, and Shell needed to win just once to advance to the semifinals.
Ginebra Barely Makes It
While Mobiline cruised in the eliminations, Ginebra struggled and barely made it to final eight. Three years removed from their last title, the crowd darlings were in the throes of transition that time. They lost their heart and soul, Robert Jaworski, to retirement as reports of internal dissent surfaced. They also lost two of their best players—firebrand shooter Pido Jarencio and do-it-all shooting guard Vince Hizon—to the Rhum Masters and the MBA, respectively.
With Marlou Aquino, Noli Locsin, and Bal David left to carry the load, Ginebra faltered to a 6-10 record in the 1999 All-Filipino Cup and only made it to the quarters after eking out a 77-74 win over the Sta. Lucia Realtors in a one-game playoff for the eighth seed.
In many ways, Ginebra had to business making it to the playoffs that conference. And it certainly didn’t look like they were going to win even one game against Mobiline. The teams’ two games in the eliminations—90-74 and 72-62 both in favor of the Phone Pals—even suggested a rout for Taulava and his pals.
Never Say Die—What Else?
Then, something magical happened—at least for Ginebra and its gazillions of fans.
That never-say-die spirit Jaworski painstakingly instilled into his teams of yesterday kicked in. Locsin, undersized and all, bullied his way to 21 points and 7 rebounds in Game 1, while Aquino and David combined for 30 markers to help Ginebra overcome the combined 24 points and 21 rebounds of Taulava and Seigle. It was a stunner to say the least, and it gave Ginebra the golden chance to do something no other team had done up to that point: overcome a twice-to-win disadvantage.
The Phone Pals were having none of it early in Game 2, roaring to a strong start and building as much as a 14-point cushion in the first half. But Team NSD—pardon the pun—simply refused to die. They chipped away at that Mobiline lead, cutting it to six after three quarters and then to one, 77-76, at the 1:18 mark of the fourth after an Aquino putback.
Just like that, what was supposed to be an unwinnable series was within reach for Ginebra.
The next 76 seconds unfolded like a blur, with the lead changing hands four times:
- A Marlou Aquino block on a driving Jeffrey Cariaso
- Two free throws by Noli Locsin after what appeared to be a backing violation by Bal David (Ginebra up, 78-77)
- Two freebies by Asi Taulava (Mobiline up, 79-78)
- A driving lefty lay-in by Elmer Lago (Ginebra back up, 80-79)
- Two free throws by Jeffrey Cariaso (Mobiline up again, 81-80)
Bal David Slays the Giant
After all that, two seconds still remained—two seconds was all that stood between an historic victory or an epic collapse.
It turns out, Ginebra’s Bal David needed just two seconds to author one of the PBA’s most iconic game-winners and seal another historic feat for Team NSD.
With the Phone Pals up, 81-80, and Locsin inbounding at the halfcourt line, David lined up with Aquino, Lago, and Allan Caidic at the free throw line. Aquino curled from one end of the nail to the other off a double-pick set by Lago and Caidic but was snuffed out by Taulava. David followed but flared to the top of the key going to the right wing—a full two to three steps out from the three-point arc.
Locsin, not exactly known for his passing, delivered a pinpoint bounce pass to the moving David, who took one dribble, spun to elude the much bigger Cariaso, and took a double-clutch 14-footer—all seemingly in one motion.
Bal David made the shot. Of course he did. He even called bank. No, he actually called game. Scratch that, Bal David called history.
Another Historic First for Ginebra
Bal David’s iconic game-winner allowed Ginebra to become the first team ever in the PBA to overcome a twice-to-win disadvantage—and the fact that they did so as the lowest ranked team going up against the top seed only made the historic win even sweeter. That it took 12 years and the smoldering hands of one Gary David to replicate this upset proves that beating a top-seeded team is no mean feat.
Ginebra’s historic 1-against-8 victory in the 1999 McDonalds PBA All-Filipino Cup also came eight years after the Jaworski-led Añejo Rum 65ers made history of their own. This time around, the Big J and his squad became the first PBA team to comeback from a 1-3 deficit in the Finals, doing so against Shell Rimula X in the 1991 PBA First Conference Finals with Rudy Distrito banking in the game-winner, just as Bal David banked his eight years later.
Of course, that glorious win on May 12, 1999 was nowhere near championship level. In fact, Ginebra got swept in the semis by eventual champions Shell, who were led by their inspired and nearly unstoppable main man, Benjie Paras. Even so, it doesn’t take away from the magnitude of the moment and the history that was made at Cuneta that one fateful night.
It was a night Bal David called history and shot down a giant.
