MANILA – Mark Caguioa and LA Tenorio combined for 42 huge points to lead the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings to a pulsating 98-94 victory against the tough-as-nails Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Sunday. The Kings thus scored their second straight win, grabbing the solo lead in the 2012-2013 PBA Philippine Cup. The Elasto Painters suffered their first loss after winning their first game in the conference against the Petron Blaze Boosters. The Kings and the Elasto Painters had the 14,000 fans at the Smart-Araneta roaring with delight as the two evenly matched teams both came out of the dugout with all guns ablaze. With the game tied at 86-all with less than four minutes left, suspense mounted as Ginebra rookie Chris Ellis fouled Rain or Shine's Jeff Chan while taking a three-point shot. Chan converted two of three free throws to put Rain or Shine in the lead. But Rico Maierhofer scored on a putback off a missed triple by Tenorio to give Ginebra the lead with a minute left. The Elasto Painters had the chance to pull off a win but Chan's three-point shot clanked out. Caguioa then sealed the win for the Kings with two charities. Caguioa was named best player of the game, finishing with 22 points, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, and eight rebounds. Tenorio chipped in 20 while Kerby Raymundo and Maierhofer added 12 points apiece. Chan led the Elasto Painters with 25 points while Ronnie Matias added 14. Ginebra head coach Siot Tanquincen downplayed his team's success, saying they were actually “not playing well” and were lucky “to squeeze the game out.” In the first match of the twinbill, the Air21 Express used a scorching run midway in the second half to defeat the Globalport Batang Pier, 88-81. John Wilson scored 17 points to lead the Express to their first win of the season after their opening game loss against the Barako Bull Energy Cola. Mark Isip and KG Canaleta chipped in 12 points each. Greatly contributing to Globalport's loss was the Express' 52-37 domination of the boards. Willie Miller led Batang Pier with 22 points while Gary David contributed 17. However, the backcourt duo converted just 2-of-15 attempts from beyond the arc as Globalport fell to their second straight loss after being routed by the Kings in the opening of the 38th PBA season.
