The Batang
Pier became the first team officially eliminated from Playoff contention, while
the Kings and Boosters remain tied at third spot. The Texters also gained some
ground this past weekend, while the Aces continued to lead the entire league at
first place.
In Saturday’s
out-of-town match, Talk N Text beat GlobalPort, 94-84, as the Jimmy Alapag and
Ryan Reyes combo worked wonders. Both combined to finish with a total of 44
points as TNT checked a 2-game slide to stay within striking distance of the
top half of the heap. One good quarter turned out to be the big difference here.
The Texters outscored GlobalPort, 27-13, in the second period to break the game
open and play keep away till the end.
After a
promising start to the conference, GlobalPort became the first team to bite the
dust. At 2 wins and 10 losses, the Batang Pier have the worst record in the
league and have been officially eliminated from quarterfinal contention.
In yesterday’s
curtain-raiser, Bgy. Ginebra overcame Meralco, 91-90. Vernon Macklin outplayed
Eric Dawson down the stretch and hit the marginal basket to lift the Gin Kings
over the resurgent Bolts. Macklin finished with 31 points and 12 rebounds while
also limiting Dawson to just 44% FG shooting and forcing 8 turnovers from the
former San Antonio Spur hopeful. In the process, the Kings extended their
winning run to six games. Another guy who really stepped up was Mac Baracael. The
former FEU and Gilas standout registered maybe his best game of the season so
far -- 17 points on 7-of-10 FG shooting, 6 boards, and 2 assists in just 27
minutes of play. In the meantime, Baracael’s counterpart from Meralco, Cliff
Hodge, continued to flounder in the current conference. In this game he
finished with just 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 fouls.
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| Vernon Macklin struck hard to frustrate the Meralco Bolts. |
Petron ended
the weekend with a big win over Barako Bull, 88-77, as Henry Sims and Alex
Cabagnot formed a potent duo for the Boosters. The pair combined for 43 points,
17 rebounds, and 8 assists as the Boosters tied Ginebra at third place with
identical 7-5 slates.
The Energy
Cola really had a difficult time here as former King Eagle JC Intal continues
to be in limbo. The PBA journeyman played 19 minutes, often visibly struggling
against the likes of Chris Lutz and Arwind Santos. Intal ended up with only 2
points (both from free throws), missing all 8 of his field goals. All this
while the debut of DJ Mbenga went pffft. The former LA Laker did record 14
rebounds and 2 blocks, but he was anemic offensively, finishing with just 14
points on a dismal 36% FG clip.
Game Recaps:
TALK N TEXT over GLOBALPORT,
94-84
The Talk ‘N
Text Tropang Texters formally booted out the GlobalPort Batang Pier from
playoff contention in the Commissioner’s Cup with a 94-84 victory Saturday
night at the University of San Agustin Gymnasium.
Ryan Reyes
posted 24 points, six rebounds, and three assists to lead the Tropang Texters
to their sixth victory in 12 games.
He starred
in a blazing second quarter that saw Talk ‘N Text outscore GlobalPort, 27-13,
to turn a close match into a 56-40 game at halftime.
The Tropang
Texters led by as much as 18 points early in the third quarter and kept the
Batang Pier at bay for most of the rest of the game.
Talk ‘N Text
was still up, 86-70, with seven minutes left in the match before GlobalPort
rattled off a 12-0 run to come within striking distance.
But Tropang
Texters team captain Jimmy Alapag hit two three-pointers in a backbreaking 8-0
to stretch the lead back to 12 points, 94-82, and take the starch out of the
Batang Pier.
GlobalPort
suffered its ninth straight loss to fall further into the bottom of the
standings with a 2-10 win-loss record.
TNT 94 – Reyes 24, Alapag 20, De Ocampo
13, Castro 12, Harvey 6, Fonacier 6, Al-Hussaini 6, Aban 5, Carey 2, Raymundo
0, Peek 0.
GLO 84 – Morgan 19, Miller 15,
Deutchman 12, Aguilar 11, David 10, Juntilla 5, Belencion 4, Yee 3, Antonio 3,
Mandani 2, Salvador 0, Lingganay 0.
QS: 29-27, 56-40, 75-66, 94-84
PETRON over BARAKO BULL,
88-77
The Petron
Blaze Boosters put the cudgels on Barako Bull en route to an 88-77 victory that
snapped a three-game losing streak in the Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at the
SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“After the
last game, our battlecry for this game was defense,” said Petron coach Olsen
Racela. “Nakakahiya yung iskoran ka ng 57 points ng kalaban eh.”
Racela was
referring to the Boosters’ 102-92 loss to Meralco last Friday that saw Bolts
import Eric Dawson shred the Petron defense with 57 points.
“I think
giving up 77 points to Barako Bull, which is an offensive-minded team, is an
accomplishment,” added Racela, whose Boosters held their opponents to below 32
percent shooting from the field.
The loss
spoiled the PBA debut for Barako Bull of NBA veteran DJ Mbenga, who had a quiet
game of 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The win
improved Petron’s win-loss record to 7-5, moving the team just one game behind
Rain or Shine for second place, which comes with it a twice-to-beat advantage
in the quarterfinals.
But Racela
said the team isn’t gunning for one of the top two spots just yet.
“We’re not
looking at one and two anymore. Now that we’re in the quarters, positioning ang
hinahabol namin. We don’t want to be at a twice-to-beat disadvantage.
Import Henry
Sims had 23 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks in his second game with the
Boosters, while point guard Alex Cabagnot set the tone with 20 points and seven
assists.
Barako Bull
lost for the seventh time in eight games to see its record fall to 4-8. Mired
in ninth place, the team is in danger of missing the quarterfinals for the
second straight conference.
PET 88 – Sims 23, Cabagnot 20, Lassiter
14, Santos 11, Fajardo 6, Lutz 6, Miranda 6, Washington 2, Sison 0, Faundo 0,
Lanete 0, Pena 0.
BAR 77 – Mbenga 14, Maliksi 13, Anthony
11, Pennisi 11, Monfort 8, Seigle 8, Urbiztondo 5, Macapagal 3, Duncil 2, Intal
2, Kramer 0.
QS: 22-17, 40-38, 67-55, 88-77
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| DJ Mbenga and Henry Sims clash in mid-air. |
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| June Mar Fajardo shows his soft touch. |
BGY. GINEBRA over MERALCO,
91-90
“Go strong.”
That was
Alfrancis Chua’s instruction to import Vernon Macklin in Barangay Ginebra San
Miguel’s final timeout with the team down one point against Meralco.
Macklin
followed his coach’s instruction to the letter, hitting a layup with seven
seconds left that gave the Gin Kings a thrilling 91-90 victory over the Bolts
Sunday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Ginebra won
its sixth straight game to improve its Commissioner’s Cup win-loss record to
7-5. The rampaging Gin Kings have won seven of their last eight matches after
opening the tournament with four straight losses.
But the Gin
Kings had to go through the eye of the needle against the Bolts, who put
together a 9-0 run on three straight three-pointers in the last three minutes —
two from Sunday Salvacion and one from Ronjay Buenafe — to take a one-point
lead before Macklin’s heroics.
“Ang Ginebra
team, hindi talaga sumusuko,” Chua said after the game.
The coach
noted that Meralco’s three-pointers all came off broken plays.
“Siguro
pinasarap lang ng Diyos ang laro,” said Chua. “Pero I have to give it to them,
talaga yung dalawang shooter nila, grabe.”
Macklin
finished with 31 points and 12 rebounds, outpointing counterpart Eric Dawson,
who was coming off a 57-point performance last Friday. The Meralco import had
27 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, four steals, and five blocks, but missed
the final shot that could have given the Bolts the victory.
GIN 91 - Macklin 31, Baracael 17,
Tenorio 17, Labagala 10, Hatfield 10, Ellis 4, Jensen 2, Espiritu 0, Maierhofer
0, Mamaril 0, Helterbrand 0, Raymundo 0.
MER 90 - Dawson 27, Buenafe 19, Ross
11, Cardona 10, Salvacion 9, Hugnatan 6, Hodge 4, Timberlake 4, Vanlandingham
0, Reyes 0.
QS: 18-24, 44-43, 71-64, 91-90
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| Cliff Hodge checks his face after getting hit. |
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| Mac Baracael caught fire against the Bolts. |
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 Pranz Kaeno Billones)
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