[11] Meanwhile, Purefoods was trotting out a talented bunch of rookies led by Jojo Lastimosa, Jerry Codiñera, and Alvin Patrimonio to complement the veteran Fernandez.

Then, import Carlos Briggs stole the ball from Dindo Pumaren and completed a three-point play off a foul by Lastimosa, capping a stirring comeback and a 135–134 victory for Jaworski's charges.

[17] On November 8, 1990, Jaworski committed a punching foul on Purefoods import Robert Paul Rose when he let go of a flying elbow with seconds left of an already won ballgame by the Hotdogs.

[7] The rivalry somehow wavered in the early to mid-90s as Purefoods, led by the then dominant Patrimonio, went on to win several championships while Ginebra struggled and found themselves languishing in the bottom of the team standings.

In 1996, with the acquisition of rookie big man Marlou Aquino and free agent point guard Bal David, Ginebra, still handled by playing coach Jaworksi, found itself competitive once more.

In 1997, a coin-throwing incident marred a game between the old rivals when a controversial blocking foul was called against Ginebra's Vince Hizon on a drive by Purefoods’ center Jerry Codiñera.

[7] In Game Six of the 1997 PBA All-Filipino Cup finals, Alvin Patrimonio scored almost half of his team's total points (40 of 82) to lead his Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys to the title over the Gordon's Gin Boars.

Yap's popularity surged even more when he tied the knot with celebrity actress Kris Aquino and found himself being adored by the masses, including the non-basketball watchers.

[8] So notable is the parallelism that after a playoff game wherein Yap made the winning basket, Coach Tim Cone of San Mig Super Coffee remarked, “In the old days it would’ve come down to Alvin Patrimonio making a big post move.

[35][36] During its off-season buildup for 2016-17, the Star Hotshots traded Yap to Rain or Shine for superstar guard Paul Lee, marking the end of an era for the Purefoods franchise.

[38] During one of the games of the series, struggling Ginebra import Jackson Vroman lost his cool and shoved B-Meg center Yancy de Ocampo in the face.

In that game played on July 20, 2012, B-Meg's Peter June Simon nailed a putback off a missed attempt by import Marqus Blakely with 2.5 seconds left in the gameclock to lift his team over Barangay Ginebra, 74–72.

In the dying seconds of Game 1 of the 2013-14 Philippine Cup Semifinals, the inbound pass of Barangay Ginebra's Mac Baracael was stolen by Joe Devance, after which San Mig Super Coffee (Purefoods) guard Mark Barroca quickly ran down the court and sank the go-ahead one-hander to give his team an 85–83 win.

[27] In that same game, forward Mac Baracael of Barangay Ginebra committed a closed-fist foul against center Rafi Reavis of San Mig Super Coffee.

[47] But in the do-or-die match, San Mig's starting backcourt duo of Yap and Simon dropped 30 and 28 points, respectively, to finally put away their rivals.

[49] In 2011, Tim Cone, the long-time head coach of the Alaska Aces, cut his ties with the team that he led to 13 championship titles, including a rare Grand Slam.

[50] Cone became successful with the Aces running his triangle offense, a brainchild of NBA coach Phil Jackson and Tex Winter which provides for ample spacing that puts everyone in scoring position.

[42] The team finished as runners up in the following tournament and settled for third in the succeeding two conferences, before dominating the league as the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers by winning four consecutive championships, as well as the Grand Slam in the 2013–14 season.

A string of playoff exits and disappointments prompted team management to pluck Cariaso out of San Mig Coffee at the start of the 2014 Governors' Cup.

[54] Ginebra started the conference with three straight wins but it was no less than Cone and rival San Mig Coffee who dealt the team its first loss with Cariaso at the helm.

An interesting plot twist to the rivalry was Cone's transfer in the following offseason from the Star Hotshots (Purefoods) to Ginebra, where the multi-titled coach is expected to reintroduce the triangle.

[58] Star's Joe Devance, a player very familiar with Cone's triangle having played the system in Alaska and Purefoods, soon reunited with the veteran coach in Ginebra through a four-team trade.

[60] With their new coaches, Star won the first Manila Clasico game, which saw Barangay Ginebra trailing by as much as 31 points and their trademark comeback attempt coming up short in the final quarter.

[69] Star also made the biggest deal in the offseason buildup when it traded long-time franchise cornerstone James Yap for guard Paul Lee.

[76] Barangay Ginebra was also beaten by Magnolia in the quarterfinals of the succeeding Philippine Cup tournament, losing the back-to-back Manila Clasico playoff series to the Hotshots.

[77] Over time, another Lastimosa (not Jojo) and Abarrientos (not Magnolia assistant coach Johnny) were featured in Manila Clasico upon the retirement of the old hardcourt heroes decades ago.

Hotshot Jerom Lastimosa shot the first four-point field goal in the "Christmas Clasico" that helped Magnolia to advance strongly in the first quarter until reaching a 72-52 lead against RJ Abarrientos and Ginebra.

[78][79][80] True to its never-say-die spirit, however, the new point guard of Ginebra cut their 20-point deficit by leading an avalanche of triples in the second half before Thompson hit the buzzer-beating corner trey at the buzzer to break the 92-all score and win the last Manila Clasico, 95-92, on December 25, 2024.

[15] In Game One, Joey Loyzaga led the Rum Masters to victory as he fired five three-point shots, all of them on crucial occasions and quelling as many Purefoods uprising.

The championship matchup was a fitting conclusion to the tournament with Ginebra (then carrying the Gordon's Gin Boars name) and Purefoods ending as the top two teams after the elimination and semifinal rounds.