The
Beermen, 21 points down in several instances in the first half, defeated the
Kings in their own never-say-die game and posted a high-wire 69-68 victory in a
PBA Philippine Cup elimination game before a sizeable Araneta Coliseum crowd.
Arwind
Santos, after tossing in 20 points and collaring 11 boards, came up with the
best defensive play of the game in the waning seconds as the Beermen sealed the
win and rose to 2-1 in new coach Ato Agustin’s first outing.
Santos
ignited the San Miguel fight back with 11 of his total in the third period, and
when the game rested on a final play inside the last 6.3 seconds, the reedy
forward forced Willie Miller to dribble off his foot and commit a costly
turnover.
“I just
did what I had to do out there,” Santos told reporters in Filipino. “I sort of
expected that Willie (Miller) will be asked to take the final shot for Ginebra,
so I just hung in there and played defense as best as I could.” Ginebra took
several 21-point leads, the last at 45-24 late in the second period, making it
look like it would be a cruise the rest of the way for the crowd-darlings.
But the
San Miguel defense clicked in the third as the Beermen held the Kings to nine
paltry points in the quarter and Santos was on target by hitting all four of
his two-point attempts that went with one triple.
From a
31-46 deficit, the Beermen then took a 59-55 lead into the fourth period before
matching Ginebra’s intensity the rest of the way to pound out the win.
“I am very
happy, my first game turned out to be a win,” Agustin, the 1992 PBA MVP who
last Friday fulfilled his commitment to San Sebastian in the NCAA to pave the
way for his first full-time head coaching stint with San Miguel, said.
“We were
out-hustled in the first half and we didn’t have any aggressiveness in defense
that’s why we trailed big early.” Jay Washington scored all of his 13 points in
the first three periods but was the second San Miguel player in double double
with 14 boards, and Alex Cabagnot contributed 11 and six assists for the
Beermen.
Miller, a
winner of two MVP awards with different teams, was actually responsible for the
hot Ginebra start by tossing in 11 of his team-high 19 in the first period.
But after
him, only Ronald Tubid finished in twin digits with 10 with Mark Caguioa held
down to eight and Jay-Jay Helterbrand a dismal two points in three total
attempts.
Powerade
also improved to 2-1 earlier after Gary David scored 23 points and Dennis
Espino tossed in 12 of his 17 in the first half in an easy 87-77 victory over
Barako Bull.
David was
at the forefront of the Powerade offense all night, finishing off breaks and
hitting the occasional jump shot as the Tigers, who came into the game licking
the wounds of a 75-82 loss to the Kings last week, got back on the winning
track.
Espino,
meanwhile, showed flashes of his old brilliance as he hit 6-of-11 field goal
attempts and made all but one of six charities as the Tigers didn’t show signs
of missing Asi Taulava whom they dealt in a lopsided transaction to Meralco
before season’s start.
Barako
Bull lost for the second time in three outings after failing to sustain a hot
start that had the Energy Boosters taking an early seven-point lead.
“I was
bit worried in the dug out because I could sense that the players were
confident coming into the game,” Powerade coach Bo Perasol said. “Out of my
character, I talked to them in an angry manner so that they would understand
that every win is important.” William Antonio, a shooting guard plucked out of
retirement, scattered 14 points and had the same number of rebounds in his
finest game since making a comeback near the end of last season.
Reed
Juntilla top-scored for the Energy Boosters with 19 and undrafted rookie Hans Thiele
had 13 points and 13 boards in another mammoth effort for coach Junel Baculi.
