The top two teams
remained firmly entrenched ahead of everyone else, while a cellar-dweller got a
big lift because of the reigning MVP.
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| Reigning MVP Mark Caguioa sparked the Gin Kings over the Texters. |
In the lone
Saturday out-of-town game this past weekend, the Petron Blaze Boosters beat the
Rain or Shine Elasto-Painters, 87-79. Even without an import (see: Renaldo
Balkman is a “choker”), Petron was fine, leaning on top overall pick June Mar
Fajardo’s virtuoso performance. I mean, why would the Boosters need an import
when Fajardo puts up 20 and 13 on 9-of-11 FG shooting? We might be looking at
the back-up center of Gilas Pilipinas right now. Kraken unleashed!
In the
meantime, the Painters suffered their second straight loss, and this with ace
shooter Jeff Chan back in active duty. ROS sinks to 5-3 and solo third with the
Texters, Bolts, and Mixers hot at their heels. Time for some big changes, coach
Yeng (read: a new import maybe)?
In Sunday’s curtain
raiser, the Alaska Aces defeated the GlobalPort Batang Pier, 93-85. Rob Dozier
had a great bounce-back performance after he was outplayed by Mike Dunigan in
their previous game. The French-American Dozier scored 26 points on 9-of-12 FG
shooting to go along with 18 rebounds to lead Alaska. In contrast, GlobalPort's
own import, Walter Sharpe, managed just 2 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 fouls in
just 20 minutes of play. And IN THE SAME NIGHT, he was found sprawled on the
parking lot of one of the metro’s night spots. Is it good bye already?
This win
puts Alaska in solo first, half a game ahead of Petron. Calvin Abueva and Cyrus
Baguio did really well with a combined 25-point, 11-rebound output, while Raphy
Reyes was great as coach Luigi Trillo's starting playmaker. The former UE Red
Warrior registered 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal in 30 minutes.
In the last
game of the weekend, the Bgy. Ginebra Gin Kings won over the Talk N Text
Tropang Texters, 107-100. At least in this game, the Gin Kings played MUCH
BETTER than their current 3-5 record suggests. They shot 52% from the field,
were +8 in rebounds, and were +7 in assists. Three guys scored 20 or more, too!
Clearly, they did not disappoint the Ginebra fans, who made up majority of the
nearly 17,000-strong live audience.
Five Texters
finished in double-figures in this high-scoring game, but two key players --
Kelly Williams and Jared Dillinger -- were not among them. Combined, Williams
and Dillinger produced only 7 points on 1-of-9 FG shooting. As a team, TNT had
five more FG attempts than Ginebra, but they made eight fewer shots. Back to
the drawing board for coach Norman Black.
A bright
spot for TNT fans, however, was the awesome play of Jimmy Alapag. Despite being
one of the Texters' elder statesmen, Alapag proved in this game that he could
still pour in the points. He connected on 5 of his 9 trey attempts on his way
to finishing with 23 points in only 26 minutes of play. Too bad his production
wasn't enough to help TNT move up in the standings.
Game Recaps:
PETRON BLAZE BOOSTERS over RAIN
OR SHINE ELASTO-PAINTERS, 87-79
Petronovela
took a turn for the better, and rookie June Mar Fajardo emerged as its newest
leading man.
Playing
without an import, the Petron Blaze Boosters relied on the young center for an
87-79 triumph over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Saturday in Panabo City.
The
6-foot-10 rookie center finished with 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the
field. He also had 13 rebounds while holding his own against the tallest import
in PBA history, Rain or Shine’s Bruno Sundov.
With Fajardo
playing an inspired game, the rest of the Boosters were able to step up.
Marcio Lassiter
had a late-game burst while Chico Lanete also made key contributions for the
Boosters’ sixth win in eight games, tying the tournament leading Alaska Aces on
top of the team standings.
Fajardo
touched off the Boosters’ 10-2 run in the fourth, completing a follow up dunk
that gave his team a 78-69 inside the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
Lassiter
scored 10 fourth-quarter points and his jumper pushed the Boosters to an 85-75
lead proved to be the final nail on the coffin for the Elasto Painters, who
lost for the third time in eight games.
PET 87 – Fajardo 20, Lassiter 14,
Cabagnot 14, Santos 13, Washington 9, Miranda 6, Lanete 6, Yeo 3, Tubid 2, Pena
0, Faundo 0.
ROS 79 — Sundov 21, Arana 16, Chan 9,
Lee 6, Cruz 6, Rodriguez 6, Matias 4, Belga 3, Quinahan 2, Norwood 2, Tiu 2,
Tang 2, Ibanes 0.
QS: 21-26; 46-42; 64-61; 87-79
ALASKA ACES over GLOBALPORT
BATANG PIER, 93-85
Alaska is
back at No. 1.
The Aces
bounced back from their second loss of the tournament with a masterful 93-85
victory over the GlobalPort Batang Pier to regain the top spot in the
Commissioner’s Cup standings Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
It was the
seventh win in nine games for Alaska, which started with a 22-13 lead in the
first quarter to cruise to the victory.
Import
Robert Dozier led the Aces with 26 points and 18 rebounds, outplaying
GlobalPort counterpart Walter Sharpe, who managed just two points while
battling foul trouble.
Sharpe, in
just his second game for the Batang Pier after replacing Justin Williams,
played just 20 minutes and never found rhythm, making just one shot in seven
attempts before fouling out with more than four minutes left in the game.
“Sharpe is a
really good player,” said Alaska coach Luigi Trillo. “He got some cheap ones
early.”
Alaska won
despite missing court general JVee Casio for the second straight game.
“It’s nice
to see Raphy Reyes step up,” said Trillo. “Siyempre malaking kawalan si JVee.”
Reyes scored
eight points and ably quarterbacked the Aces, who committed just 11 turnovers.
“We
established ourselves early,” said Trillo. “We did a better job with our
turnovers.”
Alaska moved
a half-game ahead of second place Petron in the standings. GlobalPort, which
lost its sixth straight game, plunged deeper into the cellar with a 2-7 record.
ALA 93 – Dozier 26, Abueva 15, Baguio
10, Reyes 8, Espinas 8, Jazul 7, Thoss 6, Hontiveros 5, Ramos 4, Dela Cruz 4.
GLO 85 – Miller 22, David 20, Mercado
13, Aguilar 8, Yee 7, Aljamal 4, Antonio 4, Mandani 3, Sharpe 2, Adducul 2,
Juntilla 0, Salvador 0.
QS: 22-13, 48-36, 71-61, 93-85
 |
| Ref to Walter Sharpe -- that's the way out. |
 |
| Calvin Abueva showed why he is ROY material. |
 |
| Cyrus Baguio had a good outing versus the Batang Pier. |
BGY. GINEBRA GIN KINGS over TALK
N TEXT TROPANG TEXTERS, 107-100
For the
second straight Sunday, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel was playing in front of a
jampacked crowd at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
And for the
second straight Sunday, Mark Caguioa proved why he’s still the king of the Gin
Kings.
The PBA’s
reigning Most Valuable Player scored 28 points to lead Ginebra to a 107-100
victory over the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters before 16,082 raucous fans, most
of whom were part of the Barangay faithful.
Caguioa got
plenty of support, as import Vernon Macklin posted 24 points along with nine
rebounds, while star point guard LA Tenorio added 20 points for Ginebra. Rookie
Chris Ellis chipped in seven points and 12 rebounds.
“Pino-prove
lang ng mga players ng Ginebra na kaya pa naming manalo,” said Alfrancis Chua
of Ginebra, which won its second straight game and third in its last four.
The victory
improved Ginebra’s win-loss record to 3-5.
“We have to
keep winning, pero at least wala na kami sa cellar,” said Chua, whose team
moved into a tie with Barako Bull and Air 21 for sixth to ninth places in the
standings.
Caguioa
scored 13 points in an electric third quarter performance, which saw Ginebra
repel repeated runs by Talk ‘N Text.
Jimmy Alapag
and Donnell Harvey carried the fight with 23 points apiece for the Tropang
Texters, who saw their two-game winning run snapped.
GIN 107 - Caguioa 28, Macklin 24,
Tenorio 20, Ellis 7, Raymundo 7, Labagala 6, Mamaril 6, Hatfield 6, Baracael 3,
Jensen 0.
TNT 100 - Harvey 23, Alapag 23, Castro
16, Fonacier 16, De Ocampo 11, Williams 4, Dillinger 3, Al-Hussaini 2, Carey 2,
Raymundo 0, Aban 0.
QS: 26-24; 51-50; 78-77; 107-100
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| Billy Crawford enjoys the games as Erika Padilla interviews him. |
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| Harvey Carey and Rudy Hatfield get entangled! #MoreFunInThePhilippines |
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| More than 16k!!! Woohoo!!! |
Source: Unless otherwise specified, game
recaps were compressed and compiled from InterAKTV. (Writing credit to Rey
Joble)
Images: Images are from InterAKTV and the
PBA. (Photo credit to Paolo Papa)
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