Ginebra seals playoff for second semis seat

Chris Porter had another explosive performance and got the needed support from backcourt men Mark Caguioa and Rodney Santos as the Barangay Ginebra Kings whipped the Alaska Milk Aces, 96-89, in their Christmas Day showdown last night to gain a playoff crack at an outright entry into the San Mig Coffee PBA Fiesta Cup Final Four at the Astrodome.

Behind the big games of Porter, Caguioa and Santos, the Kings hurdled the Aces to arrange a playoff with the Red Bull Barakos for the second seat in the semifinal round.

The Kings and the Barakos decide which team will join the Purefoods Chunkee Giants in an early passage into the semis in a playoff at the resumption of PBA action on Jan. 4 at the Astrodome.

The Talk n Text Phone Pals and the Air21 Express collide in a separate playoff for the second outright slot in the quarterfinals in the same Jan. 4 play date.

Red Bull, Ginebra, Talk n Text and Air21 finished the double-round classification phase with identical 9-7 win-loss cards. The Barakos and the Kings gained the playoff berths by virtue of superior quotients.

The loser in the Red Bull-Ginebra playoff settles for the No. 3 spot in the classifications and clinches the first outright seat in the quarterfinals.

The Aces wound up with a 7-9 win-loss slate for sixth place and an outright slot in the wildcard plays.

Porter, Caguioa and Santos proved to be the big thorns on Alaska’s side as the three combined for more than three-fourth of the Kings’ output. Porter made 29 points with Caguioa adding 25 and Santos chipping in 18.

Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen later lauded Caguioa’s role in the big win.

"Mark showed why he’s Mark Caguioa, why many people love him," said Tanquingcen. "He gave us tremendous energy offensively and defensively."

Caguioa teamed up with Porter as they countered Odell Bradley’s 21-point third-quarter explosion with their combined 20-point output in the payoff period.

Bradley finished with a game-high 34 points but all went for naught.

Santos had a shining moment in the contest, firing the decisive triple with time down to 28.1 seconds to eventually break the backs of the Aces.

"Rodney Santos is our Robert Horry. He comes up with the big shots," said Tanquingcen, who likened the 5-foot-11 guard-forward to the San Antonio sweet-shooting forward with a knack at firing game-winning shots in the NBA.

Led by six straight points by Santos, the Kings turned a 18-16 lead to a 24-16 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Porter then came in as Barangay Ginebra erected 10-point leads thrice in the second period, the last at 30-20 on a jumper from the left corner by rookie Mark Macapagal.