MANILA, 23 October 2006 — Look who’s playing with powerhouse form and poise right now.
San Miguel, getting huge numbers from Danny Seigle yet again, overcame the loss of a 20-point lead and two big men in regulation to turn back sister team Barangay Ginebra, 101-97, in a classic overtime game in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Seigle tossed in eight of his 28 points in the five-minute extension, doing most of everything just two days after coming back from a nagging back injury to lead the Beermen to their second straight win.
It was the second straight loss after a 3-0 start for the rock-solid Gin Kings, who forged extension with a Mark Macapagal jumper at the buzzer for 86-86 before falling in extension in the face of Seigle’s onslaught.
But despite how beautiful the win was crafted in front of close to 11,000 screaming fans at the Cuneta Astrodome, San Miguel coach Chot Reyes refused to celebrate and called it “a small win.”
San Miguel, which came into last night’s game fresh from an 81-71 thumping of Alaska Friday night, played like the favorite right from the get-go, establishing a 14-2 lead by countering the huge Ginebra starting lineup with a quick roster.
The Beermen padded this to 56-36 late in the second period before the stubborn Gin Kings finally got their acts together late in the second half to slowly nibble away at that deficit.
And while other coaches could have easily taken credit, Reyes downplayed the victory, even if beating a powerhouse team like Ginebra quickly re-installed the Beermen as one of the teams to beat here.
Chot was obviously referring to the re-tooled roster that he now has after acquiring Rommel Adducul, formerly of the Kings, and ex-Red Bull gunner Lordy Tugade, via a three-team trade on the eve of his victory over the Aces in Antipolo.
Macapagal nailed the jumper just as the game clock was about to expire, and it triggered a wild celebration from the crowd that awaited the trademark Ginebra comeback for more than 80% of the contest.
Seigle, with Adducul and Dorian Pena out on fouls in the fourth period, also pulled down a career-best 17 rebounds and swatted away two enemy attempts to earn Player of the Game honors.
The highlight of his effort came in the 2:35 mark, when he nailed a difficult fallaway with Rudy Hatfield all over him for a 95-89 lead.
Meanwhile, Air21 also churned out a winning streak of its own after getting 24 points from Gary David and 21 from Ronald Tubid in a 110-94 destruction of newcomer Welcoat in the curtain-raiser. David hit his first nine attempts from the field, giving the Express control, before Tubid tossed in 15 in the fourth period to seal their second win in five games overall.
The Dragons dropped into a tie with their conquerors. “I told the boys that the single most important thing that we should do to Welcoat is respect them,” he added. “Those who did not respect them well, suffered.”
David, the 27-year-old native of Dinalupihan town in Bataan who has been asked to start following the injury to Nino Canaleta, actually had 19 of his total in the first two periods alone, giving the Express a 53-42 lead at the turn.
And when the Dragons knocked hard on the door by coming within two points in the middle of the third quarter Perasol got David’s last five points and contributions from several others to keep the Express’ collective heads above water.
That was before Tubid finished the hatchet job with that brilliance that put the game way out of Welcoat’s reach.
