Air21 maims crippled Ginebra

MANDAUE – Air21 pounced on a badly-depleted Barangay Ginebra side, hacking out a 107-100 victory to keep its flickering hopes for a playoff crack at an outright quarterfinals berth in the Gran Matador Brandy PBA Philippine Cup at the Mandaue Sports Center here last night.

The Express charged out strong from the halftime break and dominated the Kings throughout the final half for a second straight victory that improved their record to 6-9 (win-loss).

It was Air21’s first back-to-back wins in the tournament, curiously coming after trading former top gun Renren Ritualo to Talk n Text.

The Express, however, have to win their last game against the San Miguel Beermen Wednesday and hope the Kings (6-8) and the Coca-Cola Tigers (7-7) lose all their remaining games to gain a playoff crack at an outright seat in the quarters.

Red Bull (8-6) and Alaska Milk (8-7) assured themselves of a playoff on Ginebra’s defeat — the fifth in the Kings’ last seven outings.

With the suspended Mark Caguioa left in Manila together with injured teammates Romel Adducul, Rodney Santos and Andy Seigle, the Kings could put up a good challenge only in the first half which ended at 48-47 in favor of the Express.

The Express pressed their bid in the third quarter, building an 84-69 margin going into the fourth period and hanging tough to the finish.

Playing tough on both ends of the court, the Express repeated over the Kings whom they dealt a 109-98 loss in their first meeting last March 24.

Air21 actually took control right in the opening period but Ginebra got its game going in the second period. The Kings even enjoyed the lead at 47-45 in the closing seconds of the first half.

Meanwhile, the PBA revisits the Philsports Arena in Pasig today with Red Bull seeking a sixth straight win and an outright seat in the quarters versus Coca-Cola.

Purefoods and Sta. Lucia clash in a non-bearing tiff in the 4:10 p.m. curtain-raiser since the Chunkee Giants have already assured themselves of automatic entry into semifinals while the Realtors have been relegated to the wildcard round. Today’s double-header marks the first time in over a year that the PBA holds a game at the Philsports Arena.