MANILA, 1 February 2007 — Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao talked in a somber tone that it was hard to really know that he just won a tightrope of a ballgame against San Miguel that leveled their PBA Philippine Cup series after four games.
It was even harder to fathom that his Red Bull squad just hurdled what he said was “a test of our manhood,” the joy not at once noticeable.
“It’s not about the physicality (that this series has taken),” Guiao said, just minutes after a 109-107 win made possible by a Mick Pennisi triple from right quarter court with just 6.3 seconds left. “That was not an important factor. But it’s about our manhood.”
The mercurial mentor was obviously reacting to statements of San Miguel coach Chot Reyes after the Beermen had won Game 3, and Guiao, ever the great motivator and talker, came up with the perfect counterpunch, the victory capping it.
“This was a game that was against all odds for us, because we weren’t getting the breaks from the referees,” Guiao added.
The Barako flubbed a 12-point lead in the first half and had to erase a nine-point deficit in the third period and a five-point disadvantage with 1:52 to go in the rugged contest.
A 7-0 closing spurt capped by that Pennisi trey and a defensive gem by Junthy Valenzuela on a driving Dondon Hontiveros sealed the win, which was the closest in the series and one that got away from the Beermen.
San Miguel looked poised to taking a commanding 3-1 lead after LA Tenorio had given the Beermen that five-point edge with a triple from deep left corner. But baskets by Carlo Sharma and Cyrus Baguio in the next two Red Bull offensives gave the Barako a chance.
Tenorio himself missed what would have been the insurance triple on the other end, and Pennisi was set up perfectly by Valenzuela for the game-winner.
Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra knotted its separate series with Talk ‘N Text at 2-2 after scoring a 110-103 victory in the first game.
The 6-foot gunslinger tossed in 16 points in the final frame, a complete reversal of the form he showed in a Game 3 loss as the Gin Kings won for the first time in three games to make a series out of it.
Caguioa totaled 35 for the night, all but nine of them coming in the second half as he vindicated himself after going scoreless in the fourth period Sunday night when the Phone Pals took a 2-1 lead.
“It doesn’t matter if I score two points, as long as we win,” Caguioa, who saw a string of 30-plus points a game against TNT snapped at four after just 26 on Sunday, later told reporters. “I’ll do whatever it takes for us to win.”
Workhorse Rudy Hatfield was also all over the place, shooting 18 points and hauling down a night-high 20 rebounds.
Jay-Jay Helterband, the tournament’s assist leader with an average of close to nine a game, finished with 14 markers and 13 feeds in another consistent all-around game. He became the first player in recent memory to dish out at least 10 assists for four straight playoff games after dishing out 16 in Game 1, 10 in Game 2 and a career-high 18 in the Sunday loss.
The Kings wriggled out of a tight game with a run spanning late in the third period and early in the fourth.
And Caguioa had a huge hand in it.
Down 71-75 with just 68 seconds left in the third, Caguioa had 11 points in a 16-4 run that had the Kings scampering to an 87-79 lead heading into the final 8:12, which proved enough for the Kings to hold off the Phone Pals’ closing effort.
Averaging a tournament-best 23.8 points, Caguioa first hit two free throws, nailed a three-point play off Patrick Fran, and converted on two booming triples in that scorching run that practically left the Phone Pals dumbfounded.
The Kings’ first victory in the last three games, after opening up with a 115-100 romp, was made possible by the fact that Ginebra was able to run, unlike in the previous two losses where the Phone Pals were able to slow down the game and use their advantage in size to the hilt.
But Ginebra was a totally different team last night, running at every chance it got while helping each other out in the paint to frustrate the Phone Pals.
