MANILA, 3 May 2008 — Simply put, it was worth the wait for Barangay Ginebra.
Chris Alexander, the third import for the Gin Kings, debuted with authority last night and Mark Caguioa sparked a furious Ginebra finish that keyed a 102-99 win for the crowd-darling’s first victory in the Fiesta Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum.
The 7-foot-1 Alexander tossed in 18 points, grabbed a season-high 27 rebounds and equaled the year mark in blocks with six as the Kings survived the Tender Juicy Giants and avoided falling into their worst start of the decade.
After arriving on Tuesday night, Alexander was playing on somewhat wobbly legs because of jetlag. But that did not stop the former NBA Development League standout from leaving his mark right in his first outing.
“I think we now have the import we need, because Chris (Alexander) does not take away the game of the locals,” Ginebra coach Jong Uichico said. “This is a good win for us because it came at a time when we were starting to doubt ourselves.
“This win gives us a breather and the belief that there is really nothing wrong (with the team).” And while Alexander took care of things on the defensive end and underneath, Caguioa simply shot the living daylights out of the Giants when winning time came, shooting the Kings’ final nine points.
That spurt allowed the Kings to overturn a 93-95 deficit heading into the final 3:08 as the “Spark” scored from inside and out despite enormous pressure applied by the clamping Purefoods defense.
Purefoods lost for the third straight game and dropped to 2-4 despite getting a brilliant 31 points from import Darius Rice, 25 from James Yap and 14 of Kerby Raymundo’s 18 points in the final period.
Raymundo tried carrying the fight by himself for the Giants in the fourth period, as his seventh straight point ushered Purefoods to a 99-98 lead with 1:48 remaining. But they were held scoreless the rest of the way.
Wynne Arboleda did most of everything on both ends in the stretch last night as Air21 scraped past an import-less Alaska side, 86-79, in the first game.
The 6-foot-1 guard tossed in some crucial baskets and had two of his three steals inside the final 90 seconds as the Express fended off numerous Alaska uprisings to improve to 3-3 overall.
Alaska lost for the second straight time in its 2-4 card, no thanks to Randy Holcomb sitting it out because of a suspension and reigning MVP Willie Miller never finding his groove to finish with just six points in 34 minutes.
While Arboleda did it all, coach Bo Perasol appeared for the customary winning coach’s interview talking about how he could mix his high-octane offense with the defense he thinks would make his squad win more games.
“We are struggling a bit,” Perasol said. “We are supposed to be an offensive team, but we need to play defense. It has been a struggle on how to incorporate the hard work of a defensive team with the core philosophy of the team, which is offense.” The Express closed out the half with a 50-36 lead, before Reynel Hugnatan scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the third to pull the Aces to as close as four points in the period and to within three in the fourth.
Arboleda nailed a layup to finish a fast-break with 1:43 remaining before hitting two free throws after swiping possession off Miller as the Express opened up an 83-74 lead with 1:30 left.
Possibly the hardest defending point guard in the league, Arboleda then sealed the deal by intercepting a Jeffrey Cariaso pass to Larry Fonacier, which resulted to an Arwind Santos layup on the other end for 85-79.
