MANILA, Philippines – A PBA crown remains elusive for Allen Durham. 

Durham fell short of the grand prize anew as Meralco bowed out to Barangay Ginebra in 5 games of the Governors’ Cup finals – putting to waste another conference that saw him win his third Best Import plum. 

The finals loss marked the third time in the last 4 seasons the Bolts lost the Governors’ Cup to the Gin Kings, all happening with Durham serving as import. 

“It hurts, but at the end of the day, life goes on. I got a beautiful family at home that I’ll finally get to see,” said Durham.

“But yeah, it definitely stings, you know. We definitely wanted it, everybody wanted it, but we’ll be back,” he added.

Durham pulled out all the stops to give Meralco its first PBA title in franchise history. 

He averaged jaw-dropping numbers of 23.8 points, 19.4 rebounds, and 7.6 assists, norming almost 48 minutes in all 5 games. 

But it did not help the Bolts’ cause that big man Raymond Almazan suffered a meniscal tear on his left knee in Game 3 – an injury that completely changed the complexion of the series in favor of the Gin Kings. 

“We had definitely ups and downs and stuff and we’re still just waiting for that breakthrough,” Durham said. “I think once we do that, we’ll be able to compete and compete for a very long time.” 

Although still reeling from the finals loss, Durham expressed his desire to come back and complete his unfinished business with Meralco.

“I’m determined to win a championship, and with these guys they, they really grew to be my brothers and they deserve one too,” Durham said. 

“We’ll talk with the management and stuff like that. I mean, obviously, we got to let some time pass but I’m definitely still hungry.” – Rappler.com