PBA: Ginebra downs mighty TNT for second straight win

Jared Dillinger struggled to contain Mark Caguioa, who led Ginebra to its second straight win this week. Photo by KC Cruz

The Tropang Texters still had the shot at winning even if they played horribly most of the game, but the breaks did not go their way. Aaron Aban missed a point blank shot that would have sliced the Ginebra lead further. Larry Fonacier then banked in a three to keep the possibility of a comeback alive for the Kings. With three seconds left in the game, Rob Labagala missed two free throws which would have given Talk 'N Text a chance to tie the ballgame, but the Tropang Texters failed to get the rebound. Labagala got his own miss as the time expired.

 

"A few days ago, who would have thunk it?" said Ginebra head coach Siot Tanquincen after the biggest win of the season so far for his squad. "We got a good game for the players and we got a good win," he answered when asked how they were able to slay the goliaths of the season. 

 

The Kings played with renewed energy on both ends of the court. They constantly found the open man and totaled 18 assists, but the key number was their 21-13 advantage in offensive rebounds. They converted this to an 18-12 advantage in second chance points.

 

The two teams came out firing in the first quarter, combining for 61 points. LA Tenorio led the Kings with eight points while Aaron Aban, Jimmy Alapag, and Ranidel de Ocampo chipped in five points each for the Tropang Texters. The Ginebra faithful fell silent after they saw blood oozing from Mark Caguiao's eye late in the first quarter. The injury was reminiscent of the injury that kept him off the court for an extended amount of time last year.

 

To the delight of the Ginebra crowd, Caguioa made it back to the game after his cut was butterflied and covered. Caguioa sank a three point shot at the 1:44 mark of the second quarter to give the Kings a 50-48 lead. He doubled this lead a few seconds later with a mid-range jumper. Rico Maierhofer followed this up with a layup to give the Kings a six point halftime lead.

 

"We need to involve everybody but not everyone can take shots right away," Tanquincen said. For the Ginebra head coach, this was one of the reasons why the ball often found its way to their team's veterans. Caguioa, Tenorio, Helterbrand, and Hatfield got most of the touches on offense and they delivered with a combined 66 points. 

 

"Alam na kasi nila yung sistema pero at the same time, kinailangan pa rin namin ng tulong mula sa mga bata namin," Tanquinced explained.

 

The Ginebra veterans also got some help from Chris Ellis who played disciplined basketball throughout the game as he scored 11 points on an efficient 4 of 6 shooting from the field. 

 

For Tanquincen, the biggest reason for Ginebra's win cannot be seen from the box score: "The biggest part is heart; it's our desire to win," he said. "Alam mo naman ang Ginebra, since the time of Senator Jaworski, palaban talaga."

 

"Moving ahead, Alaska is a big challenge. We cannot let these two wins get a false sense of security," Tanquincen added. Hopefully, we can get back at Alaska."