Kings rule!

Monday, September 21, 2009
By Rommel C. Manlosa
sunstar.com.ph

THE Barangay Ginebra Kings played solidly in the fourth quarter to take down the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños, 76-71, in an exhibition game at the jampacked Cebu Coliseum last night.

Cyrus Baguio came off the bench to lead the Gin Kings to victory as he scored a game-high 17 points. He also had nine in the final quarter that zapped away all the efforts of the Niños for good.

The M. Lhuilllier Kwarta Padala squad played exceptionally in the first three quarters and engaged Ginebra in torrid exchange of basket despite the huge disparity in size and height.

Bruce Dacia and Ariel Mepaña delivered the goods quickly for M. Lhuillier as they combined efforts to give Cebu a 9-4 lead.

Ginebra’s hulking frontline of Erick Menk and Enrico Villanueva put Ginebra ahead, 10-9, the first of 19 lead changes.

However, just as Baguio started to make his presence felt off the bench, Dacia was left to handle the scoring duties while Mepaña, coach Yayoy Alcoseba’s most improved player, started to wither under the wings of his counterparts down low.

Cebu’s last taste of the lead was at 61-60at the final 6:29 of the game when the Gin Kings dropped a telling 12-2 run, capped by Baguio’s triple, gave Ginebra the lead for good 72-63 at the 3:18 mark.

M. Lhuillier’s final attempt to take over the game started with Stephen Padilla’s triple and the four free throws of Dacia and Woodrow Enriquez that put Cebu within 74-70 still with 69 seconds remaining.

But their free throws faltered when these were badly needed and Ronald Tubid secured the game for good for Ginebra in the final 16.8 seconds at the free throw line.

Point guard Celino Cruz also contributed double digits for the Gin King with 13, while Dacia who had a brilliant performance all night long, finished with 16 for Cebu.