MANILA, 4 December 2006 — Call Barangay Ginebra an explosive group.
Three Gin Kings posted double doubles and Mark Caguioa led the way with 35 points last night and this was just too much for Air21 to go down, 106-95 as Ginebra took solo lead in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Sta. Lucia played listless in the first three quarters and resulted in a 109-96 whipping from Talk ‘N Text, as the Realtors dropped out of the lead after their highly-paid, high-profile team of big men failed to deliver.
Jay-Jay Helterbrand shot 25 points and issued 11 feeds, Rudy Hatfield scored 13 points and snared down the same number of boards, while Rafi Reavis was good for 10 and 17 night-high rebounds.
Ginebra climbed to 10-4, moving half-a-game up on the Realtors, who trailed early and never really got it going against the Phone Pals in the second game at the Araneta Coliseum.
Asi Taulava scored 31 points, 12 of them in the third period, and Anthony Washington chipped in with 24 before being carried off the court with a twisted left ankle as the Phone Pals rose to 8-7.
Washington, the 6-foot-7 Fil-American who is enjoying a breakout season in this his sophomore year, actually had his total in the first three quarters alone, spearheading a searing Talk ‘N Text charge that had the Phone Pals racing to leads of as many as 23 points.
The Realtors got only 10 points from Dennis Espino, seven from sensational rookie Kelly Williams and four from Marlou Aquino in what could go down as their worst performance in the tournament.
So aghast was coach Alfrancis Chua at how his big men played that he utilized a four-guard, one-forward lineup in the fourth quarter, and the Realtors almost succeeded after coming to within six points twice.
Paolo Mendoza led Sta. Lucia with 16 markers - all in the fourth quarter - while Mark Isip shot 14 points.
“I guess we just caught them on their off night,” Talk ‘N Text’s Derrick Pumaren said. “But the way they came back in the fourth period shows just how strong that team could be.”
The victory was the fourth consecutive for Ginebra even as the Express dropped to 6-8.
The difference in the scores did not really mirror how tough Ginebra had to fight. With their running game held in check, the Kings trailed by as many as 56-72 in the third period and only tasted their first lead at the 7:55 mark of the fourth period.
But by the time Sunday Salvacion drained all of his three free throws after getting fouled attempting from rainbow territory and handing Ginebra a 92-90 lead, there was no turning back for the Gin Kings.
“The games are going to get tougher and tougher,” said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico. “They (Express) were in their comfort zone in the first half and we were only able to take them out of there in the third period.”
The former San Miguel coach was specifically referring to their blazing closing run in the third quarter, when they managed to overhaul that 16-point deficit and tie the game at 81 going into the final 12 minutes.
The last time Ginebra felt a challenge from the Express was when Ranidel de Ocampo had a basket that pushed the Express to within 99-100 with 3:15 left.
That, however, proved to be the only field goal Air21 would have in more than three minutes, and the Kings exploited this by dropping nine straight points against a lone free throw from Nino Canaleta to put the game in the bag, 109-100 with 1:13 left.
