MANILA, 25 January 2007 — Teams coming off long layoffs showed none of the rust most thought they’d have.
And Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel, the elimination round topnotchers who were coming off month-long breaks, ground out wins that seemingly put their respective Philippine Cup semifinal series overwhelmingly in their favor. The Gin Kings needed just one quarter to warm up before playing so fluidly to rout Talk ‘N Text, 115-100, just after the Beermen had come from as many as 11 points down to win, 114-109, despite a conference-high 26 turnovers against Red Bull at the Araneta Coliseum.
Mark Caguioa continued to torch the Phone Pals, shooting 34 points this time as the Kings defeated Talk ‘N Text for the first time in three games here. It was done without superstar center Eric Menk and so convincing that it could have dented the psyche of the Phone Pals more than anything else.
The Beermen, meanwhile, got a combined 23 points from Dondon Hontiveros and former MVP Danny Ildefonso in the fourth period to complete the come-from-behind win, one which was feverishly worked at by San Miguel even after playing so bad early.
“I kept reading things about us being rusty and everything,” San Miguel’s Chot Reyes said. “Our 26 turnovers were a testament to how rusty we are coming into this game. We knew we were going to play such a tough team, and I just told the players to stay the course even if we struggle.”
San Miguel trailed by 11 late in the third, and was down, 86-95 with 9:44 to go before the Beermen dropped a 16-5 bomb presided upon by Hontiveros for the lead, 102-100 heading into the final 5:24.
Mick Pennisi forged the game’s last tie at 102 after two free throws off Ildefonso with 5:03 remaining, and the Barako couldn’t buy a bucket for more than two minutes before a Hontiveros three-pointer gave the Beermen a 111-102 lead with 2:38 left.
Danny Seigle scored 17 of his 21 points in the first three periods when the Beermen tried to keep in step, and he got help from Wesley Gonzales, LA Tenorio and former Barako Lordy Tugade.
Red Bull was having a lot of success playing small as Junethy Valenzuela scored nine of his 20 in the second period and Larry Fonacier eight of his 14 in the third to keep the Barako in the driver’s seat. Enrico Villanueva sustained a prolific offensive showing of late, sharing team honors with Valenzuela with Pennisi finishing with 15 and 13 rebounds. Villanueva also grabbed 12 boards.
“The value (of this win) is that it told us how far we can (possibly) go,” Reyes, whose last game came last Christmas, said. “They (Barako) really stretched us, we were able to shake away the rust and earn a bonus by winning. “This (win) really does not tell me anything other than it’s 1-0,” he added.
Ronald Tubid provided the energy for the Kings early and wound up with 18 points, while Rafi Reavis stepped up in the absence of Menk and did a lot of the intangibles aside from scattering 16 points.
Billy Mamaril was also impressive with 13 the same total dropped by Jay-Jay Helterbrand, who also dished out a career-high 16 assists in dominating his matchup with Jimmy Alapag.
Ren-Ren Ritualo shot 24 points built around five triples to pace the Phone Pals, while Anthony Washington contributed 21 in a starting role. Asi Taulava, though, could only score 14 points and grab four rebounds, with Alapag, the tournament’s top assists man with an average of close to eight, finishing with just eight points and four feeds.
