Noel’s triple-double propels Ginebra to 2-1 lead vs San Miguel

MANILA, Philippines – Import David Noel recorded the Finals’ first triple-double and Ginebra’s bench delivered as the Kings turned back the San Miguel Beermen, 116-103, Sunday for a 2-1 lead in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference championships at the Araneta Coliseum. Noel scored 32 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished off 11 assists as the Kings rallied from 13 points down at the half and avoided losing a game against a Beerman squad that played without Danny Ildefonso and March Pingris. Ildefonso and Pingris served out their one-game suspensions for trying to attack a fan when the game was all over in Game 2 Friday. They will be back for Game 4. “Somehow we have to take advantage of the absence of Danny I. and Pingris," said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico, whose wards move two wins away from winning the series. “We were lucky we were able to defend in the second half." Eric Menk added 16 points, Ronald Tubid chipped in 13 and Cyrus Baguio had 11 as Ginebra’s bench outplayed San Miguel’s, 57-25. The Kings scored 40 points in the payoff period against the Beermen's 25, a discrepancy highlighted by 20-7 gap in one stretch. “We can’t win if we allow teams to score 40 points in one quarter," said SMB coach Siot Tanquingcen. “We just shot ourselves in the foot. If we don’t defend well, there’s no way we can win the game." Gabe Freeman collected 25 points and 19 rebounds and Jay Washington, who scored 18 first-half points, ended up with 22 for San Miguel. Mike Cortez added 15 while Dondon Hontiveros poured in 12. Ginebra never savored the sweet taste of an advantage throughout the first half, and was still trailing 78-76 going into the final period. But when the opportunity came to grab the momentum, the Gin Kings took it emphatically. With the score tied at 82, Ginebra unleashed a 14-3 blast to seize a 96-85 advantage. San Miguel never got closer than seven points after that, with the Gin Kings even extending the lead at 13 (106-93) on a triple from Baguio with 3:13 left to play. – GMANews.TV