PBA: Caguioa wins it for Ginebra against Abueva-less Aces

 

The game was tied at 89-all with three minutes remaining, before Mark Caguioa sank a tough fadeaway against Dondon Hontiveros with 2:26 remaining to put Ginebra ahead.

 

Cyrus Baguio responded with a crossover on Caguioa to sink his own jumper tying the game yet again. With 1:46 to go, Caguioa found Willy Wilson down low, as the forward fished for Sonny Thoss' final foul. Wilson missed both free throws however, which led to a Mac Baracael baseline jumper to put Alaska ahead, 93-91 with 71 seconds left to play.

 

Wilson went for a drive and missed, but Billy Mamaril was there to clean it up, trying the game at 93-all. Casio drove to the lane on the ensuing play, but the former La Salle standout lost the ball, giving Ginebra the chance to take the lead. Wilson drove to the lane, then dished to Caguioa for a floater and a two-point advantage, 95-93, with 43.4 ticks to go. 

 

After a timeout, Alaska went to Casio again, but the point guard lost the ball giving Ginebra back the possession. LA Tenorio missed on a trey, but Mamaril was there to bounce the ball off Baguio to give the Kings the possession with 7.2 to go.

 

Off the inbound, Alaska looked like they were bound to complete a steal, but Caguioa was there to take the ball. The Spark hit the first free throw but missed the second, but off the battle for the boards, Alaska was unable to get the rebound to give Ginebra the victory. 

 

LA Tenorio said that getting a win over his former team was nice, but rising in the standings was much better:

"Masaya na nakabawi rin pero yung midset ko lang talaga is to help the team get to .500," Tenorio said. "Wala si Abueva so we grabbed the opportunity to be aggressive and to hustle."

 

The first quarter of the game a was a duel between two young forwards of both squads. Rico Maierhofer carried the brunt of the offense for Ginebra, scoring 8 of his team's 21 first quarter points, while Mac Baracael led Alaska with 6 of their 18 points. The Kings outrebounded the Aces 10-6 in the first.

 

The Ginebra frontcourt continued to lead their team in the second quarter, taking advantage of the absence of Calvin Abueva. This time, it was Billy Mamaril, Elmer Espiritu, and Chris Ellis who combined for 19 points. For Alaska, the guards stepped up to the plate led by Cyrus Baguio, Dondon Hontiveros, and RJ Jazul. The Kings converted 10 of their 11 free throw attempts in the second quarter for a 46-42 halftime led.

 

Casio started the third quarter with back-to-back treys to bring the Aces to within two points at 50-48, before Baracael sank his own three at the 8:48 mark of the third quarter to give Alaska a one point lead. Raffy Reyes stole the ball from Tenorio and scored on a fastbreak layup at the 5:50 mark gave Alaska a 60-57 lead, but Caguioa took it right back with a jumper on the other end. 

 

Alaska then went on an 8-3 run care of Espinas, Jazul, and Sam Eman for a 68-60 lead late in the third quarter. The last two minutes of a quarter featured a duel between Tenorio and Casio. Tenorio cashed in on two free throws off Eman's sixth foul, before Casio drove in for  a layup. Tenorio replied with a floater and Casio finished off the back and forth with a three for a 73-68 separation for Alaska to end the third quarter.

 

The start of the fourth quarter saw Jazul and Baracael hitting shots from the outside, but Ginebra stayed in the game with Willie Wilson scoring heavily for the Kings. Tenorio sank a three at the 9:22 left to cut Alaska's lead to three, 80-77, before stealing the ball off a Casio pass to feed Caguioa for a layup.

 

A follow up by Ellis off a miss by Mamaril knotted the game at 85-all. Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo was then whistled for a technical foul which Tenorio converted to an extra point to give the Kings the lead. Caguioa extended the lead to three with free throws, but Thoss and Baracael combined for four straight points to retake the lead for Alaska.

 

Ginebra got huge nights from their frontcourt. Mamaril scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds with Ellis, Wilson, Mierhofer, Hatfield and Elmer Espiritu combining for 39 points.

 

"It's a big boost for us," said Caguioa. "Everyone's getting involved. Dati puro guards lang pero ngayong tumutulong na yung mga bigs."

 

With a three game winning streak under their belts, Tanquingcen and the rest of the Kings are now concentrating on getting a better seeding for the playoffs. "We dug a big hole for ourselves by losing five straight games but we need to play one game at a time," said Tanquingcen.