Brgy.Ginebra kings

TALK ‘N TEXT SUBDUES GINEBRA
Pals survive gritty Kings 4th Quarter rally
Sunday, 11 May 2008

Playing with a lot of energy after being upset by Welcoat the last time out, the Talk n Text Phone Pals are back in the coattails of the pacesetting Red Bull Barakos and the Coca-Cola Tigers.

The Pals outclassed a struggling Barangay Ginebra squad practically on all fronts and carved out an emphatic 105-95 triumph to jack up their stocks at third place in the 2007-08 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.

Mark Cardona was a huge inspiration for Talk n Text while Mark Caguioa was a big letdown for Ginebra early on.

Cardona, Talk n Text’s leading local scorer averaging 18.6 points before the contest, rifled in 14 just in the first half leading the Pals in an early breakaway en route to their sixth win in nine outings.

Caguioa hit his average – 24 points -- but didn’t make his baskets until it was a little late.

Also getting tremendous lift from Aaron McGhee and Jimmy Alapag, the Pals led by as many as 28 in the first half and kept comfortable spreads up to the finish.

Ginebra gained some semblance of a fight towards the end as Caguioa, after missing his first 14 field-goal attempts, found his range, allowing the Kings to cut their huge deficit to single digit.

But the Pals were hardly fazed, going on to deal the Kings their seventh loss against a solitary win. It was Talk n Text’s fifth win in as many games with Ginebra dating back to last season.

"I guess we looked beyond Welcoat and into this game, and we paid the price. Good thing we recovered and bounced back, doing a hell of a job in this game," said Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes.

"At half time, I kept reminding my players that Caguioa is gonna comeback and get his shots. Good thing we already had a pretty big lead by the time he got his bearing," Reyes also said.

Caguioa broke his silence with two free throws making it 52-72 with 4:57 left in the third period. He had his first field-goal basket two minutes later.

The Tokushima FIBA Asia Championship veteran got into the groove in the fourth quarter, firing 16 points, including three treys. But the Pals had built a lead too big to overcome for the Kings.

Talk n Text torched Ginebra with a hot outside shooting right in the first half, carrying a 54-35 spread into the last two quarters.

Cardona and Alapag tossed in two triples each and the whole team converted 43.8 percent of their three-point shots in the first half as against the Kings’ paltry 27.3-percent three-point shooting.

Ginebra made just a bit better from the two-point zone with Caguioa best typifying their struggle on his 0-of-11 marksmanship in the first 24 minutes of play.

Chris Alexander was the lone bright spot for Ginebra in the first half as the seven-foot behemoth tossed in 12 points and hauled down 11 rebounds. (NC)

The scores:

Talk n Text 105 – Cardona 26, McGhee 22, Alapag 18, Washington 10, Peek 10, De Ocampo 9, Carey 8, Allado 2, Chia 0, Ritualo 0.

Ginebra 95 – Caguioa 24, Alexander 23, Helterbrand 19, Artadi 5, Valenzuela 5, Pablo 5, Mamaril 4, Crisano 4, Salvacion 3, Menk 2, Wilson 1, Escalona 0.

Quarterscores: 31-18, 54-35, 81-64, 105-95
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THOMAS POWERS AIR21 OVER GINEBRA
Express’ import explodes for 37 pts, 22 rebs to pull Kings down to 1-6
Wednesday, 07 May 2008

AFTER breaking into the win column of the 2008 Smart PBA Fiesta Conference, it’s back to the doldrums for Barangay Ginebra.

Steve Thomas had a game-high 37 points, 22 rebounds and emerged the better import in his matchup with Chris Alexander, powering Air21 Express to a rousing 97-88 win over the Kings Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

The 6-foot-10 Thomas punctuated perhaps his best game of the conference by going 10-of-18 from the field and 17-of-22 from the foul line in a performance that frustrated the throng of Ginebra fans – including reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa – who trooped to the Big Dome.

The loss was a big blow for the Kings who are coming off a thrilling 102-99 win opposite Purefoods for their first victory in the season-ending conference. They further fell to the bottom of the standings with a 1-6 record.

“Steve Thomas held his ground against Chris Alexander,” said Air21 mentor Bo Perasol following the Express’ fourth win in seven games. “The bottomline for us was to control their transition offense because their backcourt always tries to push the ball.”

Jayjay Helterbrand paced the Kings with 19 points, Alexander had 18 and 24 rebounds and Mark Caguioa finished with 16 markers.

Eric Menk finally came on board for the league’s most popular team after missing the Kings’ first six games owing to a leg injury. He scored 8 points – all in the third period – and grabbed 6 rebounds in 18 minutes of play.

Unfortunately, none among them came through when the Express were in the midst of a big fourth quarter run that turned a hard-fought game around. The contest featured 12 deadlocks and 23 lead changes.

With the scored tied at 82, Ranidel de Ocampo scored on back-to-back baskets to lead a telling 8-1 Air21 run that made it a 90-83 game.

Caguioa hit a trey at the 2:24 mark, sparking hopes of a possible Ginebra comeback as the Kings closed in 86-90.

But Arwind Santos answered back with a three-pointer of his own, before Wynne Arboleda scored on a one-hander runner to douse off the rally, 95-86.

Arboleda led all Air21 locals with 15 points, Nino Canaleta had 13 and de Ocampo 11.

The first half was just as tightly fought.

After 12 minutes of play, the scored was tied at 23. It was 43-all late in the second quarter before the Kings closed out the period with a 6-3 run to take a slim 49-48 lead with them to the locker room.

The game already had three deadlocks and six lead changes by halftime.

Thomas accounted for half of the Express’ output with 21 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 11-of-12 stint from the foul line. He also had 9 rebounds. (GR)

The scores:

Air21 97 – Thomas 37, Arboleda 15, Canaleta 13, De Ocampo 11, Santos 7, Cruz 5, Billones 5, Se 4, Kramer 0, Sotto 0, David 0.

Ginebra 88 – Helterbrand 19, Alexander 18, Caguioa 16, Menk 8, Tubid 7, Valenzuela 5, Crisano 5, Artadi 4, Mamaril 4, Salvacion 2, Pablo 0.

Quarterscores: 23-23, 48-49, 75-78, 97-88.