PBA: Santos soars as Petron hands Ginebra another defeat

After a fantastic start to the season, the Barangay Ginebra Kings have now lost their third straight game, yielding to the struggling Petron Blaze Boosters, 98-95, Sunday, at the Mall of Asia Arena. Arwind Santos had 22 points, 17 boards and two blocks, providing the needed hustle to push his team ahead of Ginebra for their second win in five outings, as both teams now tied each other in the standings with the same record. "Last time guards namin really struggled, but today the others helped out," said Petron head coach Olsen Racela. "This is a very great game for us to regain our confidence; it will help us down the line." The Kings entered the fourth down 70-64, before Mark Caguioa led his team back to cut the deficit down to two, 95-93, with less than three minutes remaining. Ginebra followed up the offensive spurt with a defensive gem, as Rico Maierhofer played the passing lane for a steal. Caguioa went for another short jumper but missed, only for the ball to go to teammate Willy Wilson for the put-back and the tie with 1:45 to go. Cabagnot launched a three that went over the top, before another Caguioa miss led to a Yeo fastbreak lay-up to put Petron ahead, 97-95, with 57 seconds remaining. At the other end, Caguioa tried to hit Chris Ellis for a trey, but the rookie shot an airball wide to the right of the basket. Petron went to Cabagnot next, as the point guard settled for a tough turnaround in the paint against Maierhofer. The shot failed to find the bottom of the net as Ginebra called a timeout with 16 ticks remaining to set-up a final shot. In a defensive mix-up, Tenorio found himself at the top of the key with Jay Washington defending, while Cabagnot was down low against Wilson. Washington summoned Cabagnot for a switch, leading Tenorio to send an over-eager bullet pass to his big man who was free in the paint. The unsuccessful pass sailed high and out of bounds, forcing the Gin Kings to foul Cabagnot to kill the clock. Cabagnot missed the first but made the second free throw with 8.4 seconds remaining to put Petron up, 98-95. With four seconds to go, Ginebra went for a three via Caguioa, but the shot didn't fall with Yeo hovering over the reigning MVP. Arwin Santos got the defensive rebound with 1.4 seconds left and was sent to the line for more free throws. He missed both, but Ginebra's heave fell way short to settle the final score. “Petron plays better with an injured lineup,” added Racela. Their starting center June Mar Fajardo missed his second game after undergoing an operation and Danny Ildefonso left the game after dislocating his shoulder on a rebound play late in the second quarter. “It was a total team effort for us,” said the Petron head coach, who credited Santos’ consistency, Cabagnot’s tenacity, and Jay Washington’s patience as the keys to their victory. He also gave credit to Yeo for making key three-point shots in the third quarter. Ginebra led 25-20 after the first quarter thanks to a buzzer-beating half-court shot from Tenorio. Things heated up in the second quarter as it started to get physical between Caguioa and Chris Lutz. The sophomore guard was whistled for three quick fouls and a technical, but he responded with an and-one play, staring down the Ginebra bench right after. “Chris is a competitor,” Racela shared. “Ganun talaga siya maglaro. Ang kailangan lang sa kanya is to calm him down.” With the second quarter coming to a close, Ellis missed a jumper as their shot clock expired. Alex Mallari then grabbed the rebound for Petron but mistakenly threw the ball to the baseline thinking that it was the game clock that expired. Jayjay Helterbrand made him pay by scoring on an undergoal stab to give Ginebra a 49-48 lead at the half. The third quarter was all about Santos and Yeo. The duo combined for 21 points to give the Boosters some separation, but Ginebra hung in there thanks to Kerby Raymundo’s free throws. Cabagnot bounced back from a lackluster performance, leading all scorers with 25 points while also dishing out 8 assists, with Chris Lutz and Yeo adding 18 and 16, respectively. Caguioa had 23 while Tenorio peppered the stat sheet with 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Petron will look to build on their momentum when they play the GlobalPort Batang Pier on October 26, while Ginebra gets an extended break before coming back against Alaska on October 28. - Renee Fopalan/AMD, GMA News