Kings repeat win over Energy Cola; B Pier spill Aces in OT

MANILA, Philippines -- Emman Monfort, playing briefly in the second half, delivered the hustle and spark Barangay Ginebra badly needed as the Kings once again reigned over the Barako Bull Energy Cola, 90-83, to close in on playoffs top seeding in the PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.

Coming off the bench late in the third period, Monfort played the role of a spark plug keying a searing rally that carried the Kings to the threshold of a first-place finish in the elimination round.

A single win in their last two games versus Globalport and Talk n Text assures the Gin Kings a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

“We dictated the tempo at the start then got rattled with their zone defense. But we stuck with our game plan, and we turning aggressive on the entry of Emman (Monfort) helped a lot,” said Ginebra coach Ato Agustin.

Monfort unloaded two three-point bombs to help ignite a run that had the Kings overcoming a 10-point deficit, 60-70, early in the fourth quarter.

Taking the cue from Monfort, Jayjay Helterbrand, Chris Ellis and Japeth Aguilar also got going, and the Kings went on to deal the Energy Cola an eighth loss against five wins.

Earlier, Kelly Nabong came through with a second straight double-double game in the absence of Jay Washington, giving Globalport tremendous lift as the Batang Pier upended the Alaska Milk Aces, 91-88, in overtime for a guaranteed playoff shot at the last quarterfinals berth.

Nabong collected 13 points and 10 rebounds, and made the biggest plays at crunch time, enabling the Batang Pier to snap out of a five-game losing skein and put one foot on the post-elims play with a 5-8 record.

Globalport automatically secures a spot in the Final Eight with an upset of Barangay Ginebra on Friday or a loss by Alaska (4-9) to Barako Bull Sunday.

“We’ll be there fighting (against Ginebra). We’re able to compete with them in the first round and we just faltered at the finish,” said Globalport coach Ritchie Ticzon.

Against Alaska, Ticzon said their pre-game dugout talk was all about playing consistent basketball for 48 minutes.

“I’m very happy the guys met the challenge and delivered,” said Ticzon after the win they dedicated to Globalport top official Erick Arejola who's turning 33 Wednesday.

The Batang Pier fought a good battle for 53 minutes, drawing the spunk from Nabong, Terrence Romeo, Sol Mercado and Eric Menk.

But Nabong turned out their biggest hero as the sophomore Fil-Am center/forward delivered the game’s most important plays.

He went for a zigzagging drive to force the overtime at 82-all.

In the extra period, he made a crucial stop, grabbed huge rebounds and nailed the insurance free throws with 1.4 ticks left.

“Nabong has really been playing well but the problem is that he plays the same position as Jay Wash (Washington). It’s unfortunate that we lost Jay Wash but it’s a good opportunity for Nabong. He’s able to step up and helped us a lot in this game,” said Ticzon.

Washington, among the leaders in the stats race for the Best Player of the Conference, is out due to foot injury.

Also stepping up in the frontcourt in the absence of Washington were veterans Eric Menk and Jondan Salvador.

Menk also churned out double-double numbers with 10 markers and 11 board while Salvador piled up 16 caroms and eight buckets.