MANILA, 10 June 2006 — Mark Caguioa sparked Barangay Ginebra and Eric Menk inflicted a lot of pain on Red Bull.
Both superstars lived up to the monickers last night and the Gin Kings got a lot of help from a Mark of a lesser light — Macapagal — in a 112-103 victory over the Barako that squared their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinal series at 1-game each.
Menk scored 35 points and grabbed 16 rebounds and Caguioa tossed in 31 as Ginebra broke away using a torrid third quarter surge fueled by the brilliance of Macapagal for a win very few thought was remotely possible in this series.
“I really admire my players because they just come out and play their hearts out,” Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen said. “Given the odds we are facing, this one was a win for the books.” While the Kings pulled level with the Barako, Alaska raced to a 2-0 lead in its separate series with the Coca-Cola Tigers after pulling out an 81-75 victory that had Nic Belasco again figuring prominently in the end game — including his girlfriend.
Belasco’s only three points for the game came from the free throw line inside the final 2:05 and his girlfriend managed to get a lot of attention when she stormed onto the court to confront Ali Peek whom she thought knocked down Belasco hard.
The 6-foot-7 forward laid on the floor face first after Johnny Abarrientos accidentally poked him in the eye and the girlfriend thought that Peek gave Belasco a hard foul. She had to be taken off the floor and out of the Araneta Coliseum by league security.
A split from the free throw line was Belasco’s first point for the night, but he helped seal the win by canning a pair in the final 6.9 seconds off a Rafi Reavis foul for 78-75 that put Alaska’s foot into a much-anticipated semifinal confrontation with Purefoods.
“The series is not yet over, but I can say that we now have a great deal of an advantage,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone. “We have three tries (to wrap it up) and knowing a team like Coke, we have to try and get it (clincher) as early as we can.”
Mike Cortez won his personal matchup with Abarrientos, and Willie Miller hit a crucial keyhole jumper with 51.9 seconds left to help cool off a searing Coca-Cola windup.
The Chunkee Giants and the San Miguel Beermen earned automatic passages into the Final Four after finishing 1-2 in the classification phase.
The winner of the Red Bull vs. Ginebra series will advance to face the Beermen, while Alaska moved within another victory of clinching its best-of-five quarterfinal matchup to march on and play the Giants.
Both semifinal series are scheduled over seven games like the title series.
