KINGS SURVIVE WHOPPERS, SOLIDIFY HOLD OF 2ND

source: PBA.PH
Sat, 11/14/2009 - 22:18 — junior

TUBOD, Lanao del Norte – Barangay Ginebra welcomed back Jayjay Helterbrand Saturday but reserved its tightest embrace for Cyrus Baguio.

Baguio capped a 15-point performance with a clutch triple inside the last two minutes, restoring the Kings’ poise for a hard-earned 83-79 victory over gritty Burger King in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Mindanao Civic Center here.

The shot gave Ginebra an 81-74 cushion that proved enough to finally quell the threat of a BK crew that gave up one big fight despite falling behind by 16 points in the match presented by Phoenix Petroleum and watched by an appreciative crowd led by Gov. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo.

“We lost the flow, both on offense and defense, in the second half and I really don’t know why,” admitted Ginebra coach Jong Uichico. “Good thing Cyrus came up with the shot that bailed us out.”

Before the Kings knew it, the Whoppers have come up with a 26-8 third quarter that gave them a 62-57 lead and even had a 67-63 advantage going into the last 8:16 of the game.

Good thing Ginebra still had some left in its tank for the final push home that earned it its third straight win and a more solid hold on second-running spot with a 5-1 win-loss record.

The loss was the Whoppers’ third straight, sticking them at ninth with a 1-5 slate.

Baguio also wound up with five rebounds and three assists, with Enrico Villanueva netting a teamhigh 16 points with seven rebounds.

Ronnie Matias’ 12 points led BK’s scorers and a determined charge by the Whoppers’ second stringers, whose valiant efforts were waylaid by the team shooting only 22-of-42 from the stripes.

Helterbrand, Ginebra’s top scorer and feeder who missed his team’s last two games due to a hurting right knee, came up with six points, one rebound and an assist in 23 minutes of action.

Baguio, lustily cheered on by fans who flocked from his native Iligan City nearby, gave his and Ginebra’s supporters ample reason to cheer first by coming off the bench late in the first quarter and capped a 13-5 run with six straight points, including a buzzer-beating triple that made it 27-18.

Baguio was not done. He had another six points in the second period, including a two-handed reverse dunk off his own steal, and a nifty assist to Villanueva, before Eric Menk buried a baseline jumper to give the Kings their biggest lead yet at 49-33.

Hurting BK most in the first half was its woeful 8-for-18 free throw shooting, including four straight to start the second period, and eight second quarter turnovers by the Whoppers helped fuel the Kings’ repeated surges.

Then came the third period, which Ginebra started by shooting 1-of-13 from the field and committing four turnovers.

Buenafe and Billones led BK’s second-stringers who gamely spearheaded the fightback, tying it at 52 before a 7-2 run ending the period gave the hoppers their biggest lead of the game.