MANILA, 22 November 2004 — Spitfire Mark Caguioa gave himself a perfect birthday gift — an 83-78 Ginebra victory over Purefoods on Saturday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City, where the Gin Kings have lost their last eight games.
Caguioa, who was celebrating his 25th birthday yesterday, was on the floor for 42 minutes, the most by any Gin King, and responded with the night’s best of 17 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and a steal.
His pesky defense was responsible for putting the pressure on what could be an overtime-setting triple by James Yap, thereby preserving the win, Ginebra’s seventh in 10 games. More importantly, the Gin Kings finally won at the Antipolo venue after eight unsuccessful tries.
“I give credit to everybody and Mark really gave his all out there. We finally slew that jinx here. We want to continue our run whether it be here or any other place,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquincen, whose Gin Kings stretched their winning run to five.
“We had a hard time containing their shooters in the early goings, but our zone worked well in the second half,” he added.
Caguioa scored five points in a 9-2 run that broke a 70-70 deadlock and gave a 79-72 lead for Ginebra with only four minutes and 13 seconds left. That proved to be enough of a cushion even as Purefoods came to within 78-79 on Tony Boy Espinosa’s basket.
Romel Adducul converted a left-handed, undergoal stab from a beautiful assist by Jay-Jay Helterbrand to make it 81-78 for Ginebra.
After a timeout by Purefoods with 6.5 seconds left, Yap went on a quick triple attempt against the outstretched arms of Caguioa. But the ball bounced off the ring, Helterbrand picked it up, dashed to the opposite court and completed a twinner at the buzzer for the final score.
The day’s other game was a mismatch with the San Miguel Beermen posting a 95-74 blowout over the Sta. Lucia Realtors. SMB improved to 6-5 while dealing the last-placed Realtors their eighth defeat in 10 games.
The scores:
First Game:
Ginebra 83 - Caguioa 17, Helterbrand 16, Seigle 13, Menk 12, Adducul 10, Santos 9, Noble 4, Salvacion 2, Dimaunahan 0, Wallkvist 0; Purefoods 78 - Yap 15, Raymundo 13, Yee 10, Limpot 9, Espinosa 8, Evangelista 7, Simon 6, Laure 4, Realubit 4, Artadi 2.
Quarters: 18-24, 40-40, 68-58, 83-78.
Second Game:
San Miguel 95 — Ildefonso 19, Seigle 15, Belasco 13, Singson 12, Mente 12, Gahol 8, Racela 5, Hontiveros 5, Gamboa 4, Villoria 2, Castro 0. Sta. Lucia 74 — Omolonm 16, Espino 14, Santos 14, Gumatay 11, Aquino 6, Francisco 5, Mendoza 4, Cuan 2, Locsin 2, Ong 0, Gonzales 0.
Quarters: 25-8, 47-28, 69-45, 95-74.
