MANILA, 1 November — Ginebra weathered a determined comeback by Sta. Lucia Realty to pull off a 74-70 victory Wednesday in the Selecta PBA All-Filipino at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City. Led by Mark Caguioa and Eric Menk, the crowd-favorites notched their second win in three games, moving one game behind unbeaten leaders Purefoods (2-0) and Batang Red Bull (2-0) before the league takes its annual three-day break in observance of All-Souls and All-Saints Days.

Sta. Lucia, which defeated Talk ‘N’ Text 70-67 last Friday, dropped to 1-1 in the team standings, in a tie with four teams.

The Gin Kings posted the game’s biggest lead of nine points and toted a 69-62 lead into the final 2:22. Still, they had to scramble hard to pull off the win that came on the heels of their 68-62 conquest of San Miguel Beer last Saturday. “I’m really happy for these two wins. At least we’re seeing improvement on our part especially in winning close games,” said Barangay Ginebra head coach Allan Caidic, adding it was defense which gave the team its first win streak in more than six months or since the Governors Cup elimination’s early this season.

“I think defense shown by our perimeter players was the key in our last two wins. Everybody really did his share in defense,” said Caidic, whose team held Sta. Lucia to a 37 percent shooting from the field compared to their 45 percent. But it was Caguioa who almost single-handedly carried the fight for the Kings when the Realtors threatened to turn the game around in the fourth quarter.

The sophomore guard scored 10 of his team’s 18 points in the final period and his free throw with 39 seconds remaining finally broke the backs of the Realtors.

Sta. Lucia, struggling offensively all night, managed to make noise in the fourth quarter when Gerard Francsico nailed a 3-point shot that pulled the Realtors within 67-69 with 69 seconds left. The Realtors had a chance to tie the count or even take the lead when Jun Limpot turned the ball over on a bad inbound pass. But Paolo Mendoza’s three-point attempt went short.

Jayjay Helterbrand cornered the rebound and quickly passed to Caguioa, who drew a “questionable” foul from Mendoza, his fifth for the evening. Caguioa split his free throws for a 70-67 and the Realtors’ chance to turn the game around was dashed when Chito Victolero’s three-point attempt from the right corner went short.

Caguioa and David sank charities that made it 72-67 that proved enough to take the sting out of Sta. Lucia’s last gasp in the form of a Chito Victolero trey that made it 70-72 only five ticks left. David then sank another pair of throws to peg the final score and formally foil the Realtors’ bid to follow-up on their 70-67 win over Talk ‘N’ Text last Friday.

Last year’s Rookie of the Year winner, Caguioa finished with a game-high 26 points, inclusive of 10 of the Kings’ last 16 points. He also had nine rebounds and six assists for Barangay Ginebra, which had lost its last six meetings against the Realtors dating back to the 2000 Governors Cup.

Menk, acquired by the team prior to this season in a trade with disbanded team Tanduay, added 14 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. He had 26 points, six rebounds and three assists in the win over the Beermen.

That was just what the rest of the Barangay Ginebra locals did. With the six-foot-six Menk scoring only two points in the second half, the Kings still managed to squeeze out the win.

Aside from Caguioa, there was also Bal David who had eight of his 13 points in the second half, including four free throws in the final 16 seconds of the game that answered every attempt by Sta. Lucia to come back.

Sophomore Chester Tolomia also chipped in his share of eight points for the Kings, six of them in the third period.

The victory also snapped the Kings’ six-game losing skein against the Realtors.

The Kings have not beaten the Realtors since Aug. 4, 2000 when they handed the Realtors an 89-83 decision at the end of the Commissioner’s Cup.

Four Realtors finished in double figures led by Marlou Aquino’s 16. Gerard Francisco and Chris Tan had 13 points apiece for Sta. Lucia which wiped out a 9-point Ginebra lead in the second quarter but just couldn’t go into overdrive in the second half.

Meanwhile, multi-awarded American coach Paul Woolpert finally notched his first win in the PBA.

And he did it against an undermanned FedEx team that proved to be so tough to crack. Woolpert needed a collective effort from his players as the Phone Pals overcame a lethargic first half and pulled off a 69-64 come-from-behind win over the Express in the nightcap. Victor Pablo typified Talk ‘N’ Text’s gutsy stand, scoring seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, including an all-important putback against 6-8 Yancy de Ocampo that gave the Phone Pals a 68-64 with still 58 seconds left.

The Phone Pals then shackled FedEx’s best offensive weapon, Vergel Meneses, to wrap up the win that put them in a five-way tie for fourth to eighth places.

Turning the ball over a lot of times, the Phone Pals played catch-up with the Express for most of the match and trailed by nine, 30-39 at the end of the first 20 minutes of play.

The win by the Phone Pals also spoiled a big night for FedEx veteran center Jerry Codiñera, who joined the 10,000 club in 14 years in the league.

Codiñera, known as the “Defense Minister”, finished with 12 points. He made it to the elite list when he scored his 10,000th point with 5:21 in the second quarter.

The loss was the third straight for FedEx.

The scores: First Game: Barangay Ginebra 74 — Caguioa 26, Menk 14, David 13, Tolomia 8, Limpot 6, Helterbrand 3, Valera 2, Wallkvist 2, Magtulis 0, Calpito 0. Sta. Lucia 70 — Aquino 16, Francisco 13, Tan 13, Mendoza 10, Victolero 7, Espino 7, Falcasantos 2, Del Rosario 2, Adriano 0, Rodriguez 0, Ejercito 0. Quarterscores: 21-17, 42-37, 56-52, 74-70.

Second Game: Talk ‘N’ Text 69 — Taulava 19, Pablo 11, Camaso 11, Demape 7, Gonzales 5, Fran 5, Crisano 4, Lago E. 3, Belano 2, Evans 2, Cui 0, Telan 0. FedEx 64 — Meneses 22, Ritualo 14, Codinera 12, Arboleda 6, Bernardo 4, De Ocampo 4, Realubit 2, Pumaren 0. Quarterscores: 17-20, 30-39, 54-52, 69-64.