The Aces remained unbeaten, Meralco
and Ginebra got their third wins, and GlobalPort survived a gritty Kia squad
these past two days in the 2014-2015 PBA Philippine Cup.
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| Alaska continued to be on top of the standings, while Meralco, Alaska, and GlobalPort each got wins these past two days in the PBA. |
Game Capsules (adapted from
InterAKTV):
GLOBALPORT BATANG PIER over KIA SORENTO, 84-79
The GlobalPort Batang Pier didn’t
get much from their ‘three-headed monster,’ but they still had enough to put
away expansion team Kia, 84-79. With Alex Cabagnot sitting out the game and
Terrence Romeo struggling with his shot, it fell on the third member of their
star trio, No. 1 overall pick Stanley Pringle, to carry the team. Pringle
finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals, but, luckily for
him, he didn’t have to do it alone. Ronjay Buenafe dropped 19 points, including
four three-pointers, while rookie Anthony Semerad and Mark Isip added 12 and 10
markers, respectively. Cabagnot was in street clothes for this game while Romeo
finished with just two points on 1/12 FG shooting, including 0/7 from beyond
the arc. The Batang Pier, who improved to 2-2 for the season, had to come back
from a double-digit halftime deficit before coming away with the victory. Once
again, the Sorento drew most of their offense from the forward tandem of Hans
Thiele and Reil Cervantes, who combined to score 34 points.
Line of the Game: Stanley Pringle – 13 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.
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| Anthony Semerad and Chad Alonzo got into some... extra-curriculars. (image by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports 5) |
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| Hans Thiele pulls up over Ronjay Buenafe. (image by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports 5) |
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| Ronjay Buenafe pulls up for one of his threes. (image by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports 5) |
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| Stanley Pringle puts the shake-and-bake on the Sorento. (image by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports 5) |
BGY. GINEBRA GIN KINGS over BLACKWATER ELITE, 100-91
The Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings
bounced back from their first loss of the season with an easy victory over
expansion team Blackwater, 100-91, even as veteran Mark Caguioa neared a career
scoring milestone. Caguioa scored 18 big points to come to within a mere 32
points of the 9,000-point career scoring mark. “The Spark” shot 9/14 from the
floor, had 4 rebounds, and handed out 2 assists in the win. Former Gilas
forward Mac Baracael backstopped him with 19 points. Meanwhile, the frontline
pairing of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar produced a combined 18 points and
24 boards. Ginebra led by as many as 16 points with four minutes remaining in
the game before holding off a late Blackwater rally to improve to 3-1, good for
solo third place. The Elite, meanwhile, saw four guys end up in double-digit
scoring, led by the 21 points of veteran playmaker Paul Artadi. The forer UE Red
Warrior also distributed 6 assists and had 2 steals, while former Red Lion
Bam-Bam Gamalinda added 15 markers.
Line of the Game: Mac Baracael – 19 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 triples.
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| Alex Nuyles flies high against Japeth Aguilar. (image by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports 5) |
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| Mac Baracael dropped a big game as the Kings marched to another big win. (image by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports 5) |
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| Mark Caguioa is nearing a career scoring milestone. (image by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports 5) |
MERALCO BOLTS over NLEX ROAD WARRIORS, 90-75
The Meralco Bolts, coming off a
tough 41-point loss in their previous game, bounced back strong, leading by as
many as 30 points before clinching a 90-75 victory over sister team NLEX. With
the win, Meralco (3-1) assured itself of a share of second place. Gary David
led the way with 23 points, including 15 in a dominating first half for
Meralco, 5 assists and 2 steals, while Jared Dillinger added 17 points. It
wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Bolts, though, as they saw a 30-point lead,
69-39, trimmed down to as little as 10 points in the fourth quarter before
coming away with the victory. NLEX was forced to commit 22 turnovers and give
up 25 Meralco points-off-turnovers. The Road Warriors were paced by the
24-point, 12-rebound double-double of Asi Taulava, while Mac Cardona and
Juneric Baloria each tallied 14 markers.
Line of the Game: Asi Taulava – 24 points, 12 rebounds, 1 block.
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| Asi Taulava bumps and bruises against Reynel Hugnatan. (image by Nuki Sabio/PBA) |
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| Gary David exploded as Meralco beat NLEX. (image by Nuki Sabio/PBA) |
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| Jared Dillinger dropped 17 big ones on the Road Warriors. (image by Nuki Sabio/PBA) |
ALASKA ACES over SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN, 66-63
Alaska point guard JV Casio came up
big in the clutch for the Aces as they grinded out a tough, low-scoring victory
over San Miguel, 66-63. The Aces, who have now won four straight games to start
the season, got four points from Casio in the final minute as they handed the
erstwhile unbeaten Beermen their first loss. With the Aces down by one, 63-62,
Casio sent his defender flying with a pump fake and buried a crucial jumper at
the shot-clock buzzer to take the lead with just 32.6 seconds remaining. The Aces escaped with yet another
come-from-behind-victory, with Cyrus Baguio’s 13 points leading the way. Casio,
meanwhile, finished with 11 markers. Abueva scored just 5 points on 2/12 FG
shooting and turned the ball over 7 times but had a monster night on the
boards, grabbing 16 rebounds for his team. The Beermen dropped the ball as the
frontcourt tandem of Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo shot just 9/25 from the
field, scoring 24 markers in all. Marcio Lassiter also struggled, making just 2
of his 13 shots for a total of 4 markers.
Line of the Game: June Mar Fajardo – 10 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks.
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| Arwind Santos shot mostly blanks against Alaska. (image by Nuki Sabio/PBA) |
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| Calvin Abueva had another big game, grabbing 18 rebounds. (image by Nuki Sabio/PBA) |
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| Vic Manuel continues to impress as Gabby Espinas remains injured. (image by Nuki Sabio/PBA) |
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