BARANGAY Ginebra goes for an even more convincing win and a two-game lead over San Miguel Beer when they face off in Game Two of the 2008-09 Motolite-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference Finals on Friday at the Araneta Coliseum.

Lucky to escape the series opener, according to their head coach, the Kings try to make it two in a row versus the Beermen in their 7 p.m. encounter.

The defending champions took Game One, 102-96, in dominating fashion as they led from start to finish and even showed their resiliency when San Miguel rallied in the final quarter.

Still, Kings mentor Jong Uichico has yet to be convinced that his team has the advantage in the series, adding that the formula to beat the Beermen in the series has yet to be concocted.

“We’re still in the drawing board. We’ll still try to find ways kasi baka nagulat lang sila [San Miguel], and for sure Game Two is another story,” said Uichico.

“But you like the situation na nakauna ka although we know that it takes four wins to win it. It’s really a long way to go and it’s just the first game,” he added.

The Beermen had a couple of chances to steal Game One from Ginebra but they threw the same number of crucial possessions down the stretch.

“We were not mentally prepared in that game,” said San Miguel mentor Siot Tanquingcen. “We lost because, mentally, we’re not prepared, but nobody is to be blamed. We’ll be ready next game.”

Mike Cortez, Jonas Villanueva and Dondon Hontiveros committed crucial errors whenever the Beermen had the chance to move closer and Ginebra capitalized by hitting timely baskets.

Jayjay Helterbrand and Paul Artadi were spectacular in the first half as they combined for 30 of the team’s 53 points en route to a 12-point halftime lead.

Cyrus Baguio, David Noel, Sunday Salvacion and Ronald Tubid took charge in the second half, both on offense and defense, to deny the Beermen a chance to stage a comeback.

Uichico is very familiar with his former team and ex-lieutenant, and he knows San Miguel will be different come Game Two.

“You know how talented San Miguel is. You always need extra effort to beat them,” said Uichico, who owns five of the Beermen’s 17 titles in the league.

For San Miguel to level the series, Gabe Freeman has to assert himself offensively and stay away from foul trouble. In Game One, Freeman was held to just 16 points, 10 below his average in the semifinal series against Burger King.

He got his fourth personal foul midway the third period, which forced Tanquingcen to use  an All-Filipino roster for most of the remaining 18 minutes of the contest.

Meanwhile, the league will award the Best Player of the Conference (BPC) and Best Import awards before Game Two.

Helterbrand, Burger King’s Arwind Santos and San Miguel Beer’s Hontiveros and Anthony Washington are the leading candidates for the BPC, while the Best Import race is a toss-up between Freeman and Noel.