MANILA -- San Miguel Beer denied Barangay Ginebra of its ninth crown Wednesday night after hammering a hard-earned 98-84 win in Game 6 of the 2008-09 Motolite-PBA Fiesta Conference finals.

The Beermen needed a strong finish in the third period to overcome the uprising of the Kings in front of 16,039 fans at the Araneta Coliseum to force a sudden-death Game 7 on Friday.

Gabe Freeman, Danny Ildefonso and Mike Cortez joined forces to help San Miguel in weathering Ginebra.

Freeman fired game-highs 24 points and 12 rebounds and got the much needed support from Ildefonso, Cortez and even Dondon Hontiveros to spoil the Kings celebration that could have been a fitting present to coach Jong Uichico, who turned 47 last night.

“We’re blessed to have this opportunity,” said Beermen mentor Siot Tanquingcen. “But this is far from over. We have to get one more win.”

Ildefonso added 18 points, 10 of them came in the final quarter where Ginebra settled for exchanging baskets with San Miguel.

Cortez had eight of his 12 markers in the fourth period including a triple for a 73-61 advantage with 11:25 in the fourth and set the tone for the Beermen.

Ginebra trimmed the lead to 76-85 on Chris Pacana’s three-point play.

Jonas Villanueva, however, answered with his own three-point play and Freeman intercepted Eric Men’s crosscourt pass for David Noel for an uncontested slam to put the game out of reach, 90-76, 4:21 remaining.

After starring in Ginebra’s 106-98 win in Game 5, Noel struggled all game long and was held down to just 16 points although he got 11 rebounds and issued seven assists in 46 minutes.

“We just can’t buy a basket tonight so credit to San Miguel’s defense,” said Uichico, who also drew 15 and 13 points from Menk and Ronald Tubid respectively.

“But forcing a San Miguel team to a Game 7 is not bad. We have now 50-50 chance of winning the championship,” Uichico added.