MANILA — Sometimes he's hot, sometimes he's cold. But Wednesday night, LA Tenorio was like a fireball. The wily starting point guard of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel nearly had a triple double of 18 points, a personal conference-high of 14 assists, and seven rebounds to lead the Kings to a masterful 106-93 victory over the Air21 Express in the PBA Governors Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome. Tenorio was at his hottest in the third quarter when the Kings outscored the Express, 30-18, to take an 84-69 lead heading into the final canto. Tenorio scored 11 of his points in that decisive quarter. The Kings continued their domination of the Express in the final quarter to notch only their second win in five outings. The victory prevented the Kings from falling into the bottom of the standings as they tied the San Mig Coffee Mixers and GlobalPort Batang Pier at seventh to ninth place. Air21 suffered their fourth straight loss to remain at the cellar with a 1-5 win-loss card. Import Dior Lowhorn was the Kings' leading scorer with 35 points while Mark Caguioa added 20 points. Lowhorn also collected eight rebounds. Air21 import Zach Graham led all scorers with 38 points while adding 12 rebounds. KG Canaleta added 17. In the first match of the Wednesday double-header, the San Mig Coffee Mixers literally had to fight their way to victory, beating the GlobalPort Batang Pier, 102-88, after the smoke of the battle cleared. All hell broke loose with 8:11 left in the third quarter and San Mig up, 58-39. San Mig import Marcus Blakely and GlobalPort's Marvin Hayes got tangled up and fell to the court. A referee whistled the two for a double foul when suddenly San Mig's Joe Devance shoved Hayes who fell a second time to the floor. GlobalPort's Kelly Nabong then rushed towards Devance but hit Blakely on the head instead. San Mig's Marc Pingris jumped into the fray and punched Nabong in the face as the two got tangled up. Players and team officials rushed to the court to separate the warring players. San Mig head coach Tim Cone found himself sprawled on the court grabbing the leg of a Nabong to stop the latter from attacking Pingris. “I was a little scared in the middle of it. A coach is supposed to go in there and break it up. Luckily he stumbled over me,” Cone said in the post-game interview. “I kept saying, ‘Settle down, Kelly,' while praying he wouldn't punch me. He was shouting: ‘Get off me!'” Pingris and Nabong were immediately ejected from the game while technical fouls were slapped on Hayes and Devance for second motion. All the players involved in the melee were later summoned to appear Thursday before PBA Commissioner Rene Salud, who is expected to impose heavy fines and suspensions on the guilty. Blakely led the Coffee Mixers with 25 points while James Yap scored a personal conference-best 22. Allein Maliksi and Devance chipped in with 18 and 16 points respectively. Minus the fight, it was an easy win for the Coffee Mixers who posted several 21-point leads in the first half before repulsing a Batang Pier charge in the final quarter. Globalport's second straight loss spoiled Gary David's finest game so far in the conference as the Batang Pier top gunner knocked in 27 points. Import Markeith Cummings had 20, while Jay Washington added 14.
