Cabatu son hits stride, 3s to lead Ginebra to win

MANILA, Philippines – Jun-Jun Cabatu may have proven himself worthy of a spot in the league’s most popular ball club. Cabatu scored a career-high 23 points, including four three-pointers, to steer a depleted Barangay Ginebra team to a 101-92 win over Air21 in the KFC-Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum. Acquired in the offseason from Alaska, the six-foot-four center and son for former Ginebra player Sonny Cabatu, sparked a Kings scoring binge late in the third period that buoyed the Kings to their second straight win to open their All-Filipino campaign. Cabatu’s three-pointer in the waning seconds of the third helped to cut an eight-point deficit to 77-76 entering the fourth quarter. After a see-saw battle saw the Express gain the upper hand 91-90 on a Ranidel de Ocampo three-pointer, Cabatu answered back with his own rainbow bomb to give Ginebra a 93-91 lead it would never relinquish. Jay-Jay Helterbrand stretched the lead to four on his own bucket then fed Cabatu for another trifecta that padded the Kings’ lead to 98-91 with 2:21 to go. “Somebody needed to step up because we’re missing some of our players. I’m glad I could contribute to the team my father used to play for," Cabatu, who was four-of-seven from downtown, said. Ginebra tied Alaska and Rain or Shine with similar 2-0 records atop the leaderboard. Arwind Santos returned from one-game suspension and scored 19 points but his presence couldn’t stop the Express from losing their third straight. Ranidel de Ocampo chipped in 15 and 11 rebounds for Air21 which made only nine-of-32 from three-point area. – GMANews.TV