MANILA — The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings are definitely back in business. To the delight of the huge crowds roaring “Ginebra! Ginebra!” the team known for its never-say-die spirit played one of its best games to defeat the league-leading Talk N Text Tropang Texters, 104-101, Sunday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Bloodied on his left eyebrow by an errant elbow from Ali Peek in the first quarter, Ginebra ace Mark Caguioa simply shook off the injury to lead the Kings with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Caguioa found plenty of support with LA Tenorio contributing 21 points, Rudy Hatfield 12, and Chris Ellis and Jayjay Helterbrand adding 11 each. Ranidel de Ocampo led the Texters with 20 points and 10 boards, while Jayson Castro had 18 points and eight assists. The Kings improved to a 4-5 win-loss card with their second straight victory, moving to solo sixth place in the standings. The Texters stayed on top despite only their second loss in the conference after nine games. Pulsating with energy and showing grim determination, Ginebra led from start to finish and never allowed TNT to come even close. The Kings threatened to pull away early in the fourth quarter after taking an 85-72 lead. But the Texters refused to yield without a fight as they closed in at 101-104 on a triple by Larry Fonacier with 5.6 seconds left. But lady luck was on Ginebra's side even after Rob Labagala missed both his charities as he was able to grab the offensive rebound and held on to the ball as time expired. One of the keys to the Kings' victory was their huge 21-13 advantage in offensive rebounds which they translated into an 18-12 advantage in second chance points. Ginebra head coach Siot Tanquingcen attributed the victory to their “heart and desire to win.” “Somehow, our aggression was evident; our defense was better and our offense was more patient,” he said. In the first match of the Sunday double-header, the Meralco Bolts suffocated the badly crippled Petron Blaze Boosters, 95-81, to improve to solo fourth in the rankings with a 5-3 card. The Bolts' performance was a far cry from their miserable game last Nov. 4 when they lost by 25 points, 106-81, to Rain or Shine. Petron fell into a tie for eighth to ninth place in the company of Barako Bull Energy with their third straight loss and six overall in nine games with five games left. Sol Mercado powered the Bolts with 22 points, 14 of them in the third quarter when the Bolts started to pull away. Mac Cardona nearly had a triple-double game with 16 points, 10 assists and nine boards. Reynel Hugnatan also played huge for the Bolts with 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field. Alex Cabagnot led Petron with 19 points, while Chris Lutz and Arwind Santos had 13 and 10 respectively. Meralco head coach Ryan Gregorio said their humiliating loss in their previous game gave them the fire to bounce back. “After a deflating defeat against Rain or Shine, we want to test our bounce-back genes and we did it,” he said. “Against Rain or Shine, complacency was the enemy. In this game, from the opening tip our lockdown defense was there and on offense, we're hitting in all cylinders,” he added.
