Talk N Text put the clamps on Brian Butch and Gary David last night for their fifth win, while the Gin Kings relied on their Fast & Furious combo to beat GlobalPort.
 |
| Leon Rodgers helped Ginebra bounce back, while Brian Butch and the Bolts struggled against TNT. (image by Enzo Flojo/Hoop Nut) |
In the first game, Talk N Text routed Meralco, 91-68, as they had seven guys score at least seven points, and they outscored the Bolts, 40-25, in the middle two quarters to remain unbeaten after five games in the Commissioner’s Cup. Gilas Pilipinas stalwarts Ranidel De Ocamp, Jayson Castro, and Larry Fonacier combined for 43 points to lead the Texters, who are one of the early favorites to go deep in the knockout rounds. RDO and Fonacier each hit 2 triples for Talk N Text, while starting forward KG Cañaleta hit 3 treys to account for all 9 of his points.
Gary David, Anjo Caram, and Reynel Hugnatan — all starters — combined to score just 18 points in 86 minutes. Collectively, they shot 7/24 from the floor, which is definitely not the output coach Ryan Gregorio wanted. The Bolts fell to 2-2 in the standings as this loss came at the heels of their winning back-to-back games.
Butch-ered: Brian Butch was on fire in his last two games, hitting a total of twelve threes and scoring 69 points. In this game, the NBA D-League veteran squared off against youthful import Richard Howell, and, suffice to say, Butch was shackled. The Wisconsin product shot just 6/21 from the field, including 2/7 from beyond the arc to settle for 16 points. He still did well in other departments, grabbing 20 rebounds and blocking 3 shots, but the 6’11 import’s scoring is what makes him potent, so he has to regain his touch sooner rather than later.
In the main game, Ginebra overcame GlobalPort, 113-107. Leon Rodgers didn’t have the best of games in Ginebra’s loss to San Mig Super Coffee last Sunday. Sure, he scored 35 points, but he missed a ton of shots in the fourth quarter that didn’t help the Kings’ cause. In this one, Rodgers did better, scoring 33 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and helping the Kings get their second win in four outings. He took 17 less shots (most of them were perimeter shots, too) than he did in the previous game, and chose to be more aggressive in driving to the hole. The result? Rodgers went to the line 22 times, making 19. Way to go, Leon King!
The Batang Pier did well on defense, forcing 20 Ginebra errors, but this was offset by their allowing the Gin Kings to outrebound them, 50-64. This resulted in Ginebra’s scoring 20 second-chance points. It didn’t help that Jay Washington continued the shooting woes that befell him last weekend. J-Wash shot just 2/7 against Meralco last Saturday, and he compounded it by shooting 3/10 against Ginebra last night. He has averaged just 6 points and 4 rebounds per game in GlobalPort’s last two outings.
The Return of Fast & Furious: Mark “The Spark” Caguioa and Jay-Jay Helterband turned back the clock in this one, grabbing the limelight from their younger teammates to help lead Ginebra in its W over GlobalPort. Caguioa was awesome on the boards here, hauling down 14 rebounds while also scoring 15 points. Helterbrand, meanwhile, shot 5/8 from the floor to score 14 points off the bench. Ginebra fans better cherish this now, of course, because it probably won’t happen very often, if at all.
Game Recaps:
TALK N TEXT over MERALCO, 91-68
Talk ‘N Text made sure to put the clamps on Meralco star Gary David and the Tropang Texters outplayed the rest of the Bolts to win, 91-68, and continue their streak in the PLDT Home TVolution Commissioner’s Cup on Friday night at the Cuneta Astrodome.
It was the fifth win in as many games for the Tropang Texters as they closed in on their target for getting one of the top two berths in the next round.
The Tropang Texters were able to get the win by relying on their good team defense as they held the Bolts below 32 percent shooting from the field (28-of-89).
“If there’s one thing that I’m really happy so far this conference is the fact that we’re not shooting the basketball that well, but we’re still winning games with our defense,” Talk ‘N Text coach Norman Black said during the postgame interview.
The Tropang Texters made a conscious effort to defend the Bolts’ outside snipping, particularly that of import Brian Butch and David.
Butch, who had shot a combined 12 triples in the team’s last two games, hit only two treys this time and was limited to only 16 points.
David, on the other hand, struggled all night, scoring just eight points on 3-for-11 shooting from the field.
The Tropang Texters were able to dominate the game from the second period when they held the Bolts to only nine points and led 43-33 at the half.
In the second half, the Tropang Texters continued their surge.
A Jayson Castro drive in the 8:01 mark of the final quarter gave the Tropang Texters a commanding 79-55 lead and they were never seriously threatened from there.
TNT 91 – De Ocampo 15, Castro 14, Fonacier 14, Howell 13, Carey 11, Canaleta 9, Williams 7, Salamat 2, Baclao 2, Alapag 2, Reyes Ro. 1, Reyes Ry. 1, Aban 0, Reyes J. 0.
MER 68 – Butch 16, Wilson 11, David 8, Caram 5, Hugnatan 5, Mandani 5, Ildefonso 4, Hodge 4, Salvacion 3, Dillinger 3, Al-Hussaini 2, Guevarra 2, Bringas 0.
QS: 28-24, 43-33, 68-49, 91-68.
 |
| Ranidel De Ocampo and Brian Butch get tangled up. |
 |
| Eric Salamat drives past Anjo Caram. |
 |
| KG Cañaleta tries to go baseline against Reynel Hugnatan. |
GINEBRA over GLOBALPORT, 113-107
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel survived a late scare from Mark Macapagal and GlobalPort to win, 113-107, to even out their record in the PLDT Home TVolution PBA Commissioner’s Cup Friday at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Import Leon Rodgers scored a team-high 33 points while Mark Caguioa added 15 points, 14 rebounds and three assists as GInebra returned to .500 with a 2-2 record.
Jayjay Helterbrand had 14 while LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar chipped in with 11 and 10 points.
Ginebra led by eight points, 102-94, late in the fourth, but Macapagal led a late Batang Pier run, scoring all of his team’s next eight points as they stayed within striking distance.
After a split by Chris Ellis, Terrence Romeo brought GlobalPort to within three points, 109-106, with just 25.6 seconds remaining.
But Tenorio would not let them get any closer, taking care of two free throws to make it 111-106 to all but seal the game with 16.7 seconds left.
After Romeo split from the line, Caguioa added one last layup to seal the final margin.
Ginebra led by 11 points in the third quarter after a layup by Rodgers and a three from Caguioa gave them a 72-61 lead.
But GlobalPort came to within seven, 85-78, at the end of the third and opened the final period with a 9-3 run as they came to within a solitary point, 88-87.
Later in the quarter, Macapagal took over for the Batang Pier, making a layup in transition, hitting a three-pointer and then knocking down three free throws after getting fouled while shooting from beyond the arc.
But Ginebra had an answer to each of his points with Rodgers, Tenorio and Ellis conspiring to give Ginebra a 109-103 lead heading into the final half minute.
GlobalPort was led by import Evan Brock, who led all scorers with 36 points. Alex Cabagnot added 16 while Macapagal finished 14 points.
The Batang Pier dropped their fifth straight game and remained without a win in the conference.
GIN 113 – Rodgers 33, Caguioa 15, Helterbrand 14, Tenorio 11, Aguilar 10, Baracael 9, Mamaril 7, Ellis 6, Slaughter 5, Urbiztondo 2, Reyes 1.
GLO 107 – Brock 36, Cabagnot 16, Macapagal 14, Matias 10, Romeo 10, Washington 7, Nabong 4, Ponferrada 4, Chua 2, Garcia 2, Custodio 2, Salva 0, Salvador 0.
QS: 25-28, 53-52, 87-78, 113-107.
 |
| Alex Cabagnot tries a strange-looking jumper over LA Tenorio. |
 |
| Leon Rodgers backs down against Kelly Nabong. |
 |
| Mark Caguioa had a good game against GlobalPort. |
Recaps by Rey Joble/InterAKTV.
Images by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports 5.
Tweet
0 Comment