The Barangay Ginebra Kings regained their fiery form to dominate the Sta. Lucia Realtors, 102-85, Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum in the PBA Fiesta Conference. In the nightcap, the San Miguel Beermen also had little trouble disposing of the luckless Barako Energy Coffee Masters, 104-80. It was the Beermen's eighth straight win and ninth overall against a single loss as San Miguel further solidified its hold on solo first place. Gabe Freeman led all scorers with 23 points. The athletic San Miguel import also collected eight rebounds and four shot blocks. Earlier, the Kings shook off their lethargy and rustiness as they finally scored a win against Sta. Lucia, a team that had beaten them three straight times going back to the last Philippine Cup. However, the team that the Kings defeated played minus its two top stars in Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes, who were earlier shipped to Talk N Text in a huge, three-team trade last week. With five new players in their roster, the Realtors struggled on both offense and defense as the Kings unleashed their firepower right at the start of the ballgame. Ginebra led from start to finish, even taking a 23-point lead twice as they improved their win-loss record to 6-4 to take solo fourth place in the rankings. The Realtors slid to 4-6, tying the Coca Tigers at seventh to eighth places in the leaders' board. Import Mildon Ambres scored 21 points while Ronald Tubid went a perfect 5-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc to finish with 17 for Ginebra. A day earlier in Panabo City, |Davao del Norte province, the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados handily defeated the Air21 Express, 83-71, in a PBA road game. New import Cliff Brown poured 26 points in his first road game in the PBA, leading the Llamados to their third straight win and seventh overall in nine games. At the start of the second half of the elimination round, the Llamados thus found themselves just behind the pace-setting Beermen. The loss sent Air21 falling deeper into the cellar with a woeful 1
