Kings stop Tigers in their tracks

Barangay Ginebra took Coca-Cola lightly early on and had to work extra hard at endgame to carve out an 84-78 decision and regain a share of second place with Red Bull in the Talk n Text PBA Philippine Cup at the Astrodome last night.

The highly-fancied Kings trailed by as many as 10 in the third period but fought back with their run-and-gun game before outmaneuvering the Tigers at the finish to duplicate their 102-75 rout in their first meeting on Oct. 26 in Cabagan, Isabela.

"We took things for granted. Good thing we never gave up and still found a way to win," said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico. "We’re able to raise our game notches higher and make the stops when we needed it badly."

Struggling offensively, the Kings instead banked on their hustle plays as they battled back from a 48-58 deficit and went on to notch their eighth win against four losses.

Ginebra next plays Welcoat Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.

"I think I have to keep on reminding the boys that we can’t take things for granted. It’s human nature that if you’re on top, you tend to relax and lower down your guard. We can’t afford to do that if we want to secure a spot on top," said Uichico.

Picking up their game on time, the Kings sent the Tigers reeling to a fifth straight defeat and their ninth in 12 games in all. Coca-Cola joined Welcoat in the cellar again.

Ginebra launched a big 24-3 attack in a six-minute stretch bridging the last two quarters and the Kings raced ahead at 72-61.

But the Tigers refused to crack up, going to Jason Misolas, Chris Pacana and John Arigo to get back into the fight at 69-72 midway through the last quarter.

The two teams then engaged in a tough defensive battle and Ginebra just gained enough breathing space after Jayjay Helterbrand sank two free throws making it 82-78 with 14.5 seconds to go.

Arigo missed a forced three-pointer in the ensuing play as the Tigers eventually kissed their bid goodbye.

Mark Caguioa spearheaded Ginebra’s third-quarter attack and the spitfirish guard led all scorers with 23 points. Rudy Hatfield put in a double-double job with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Curiously, the Kings salvaged the game though shooting only 36.5 percent from the field and beaten by the Tigers in rebounding, 52-53.