Giants hold off Aces in Game 1

Source: By Nelson Beltran (The Philippine Star)

MANILA, Philippines - Purefoods was not yet done pulling off surprises.

The Giants, the surprise finalists playing their 30th game in the tourney, outlasted the Alaska Milk Aces in a gripping battle, eking out an 81-77 win in the opener of the KFC PBA Philippine Cup championship series at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

“I really thought we would come out flat and not have the legs to play Game One, but the guys proved that will is more than anything,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

“I have stopped asking them whether they’re tired or not. This is the finals, no more time to get tired and rest. We wanted to be here and we have to give our best,” Gregorio added.

“It came down to the fact that they’re able to disrupt our rhythm. They’re able to play the kind of game they wanted to play,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

The Giants dragged the Aces to a defensive battle and came out triumphant with better execution on both ends of the court.

The two teams fought through eight deadlocks and 10 lead changes before the Giants unraveled an 8-2 killer run, taking an 80-74 lead with 35.9 seconds left to play.

James Yap scored a game-high 24 points, Marc Pingris had a double-double game with 13 points and the same number of rebounds while Kerby Raymundo added 13 points, six rebounds and three assists.

The other Purefoods starters in Rafi Reavis and Roger Yap also played like Giants as they sustained the momentum of their semifinal series win over the San Miguel Beermen.

“Even if I sound like a broken record, defense wins games for us. That’s the key tonight. That’s the only way to beat a fluid-scoring team like Alaska,” said Gregorio.

True enough, the Giants played a tough defense as they’ve been doing all tournament long, holding the Aces to 36.1 percent shooting.

The Giants, meanwhile, hit at a 45.7 percent clip with Yap, Raymundo and Pingris outplaying and outshooting their respective matchups.

Willie Miller paced the Aces with 23 points on 9-of-27 field-goal shooting.

San Miguel Beer outmaneuvered Barangay Ginebra at the finish, pulling off a 95-88 win to salvage third place in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night, in the first game.

Veteran players Danny Ildefonso and Olsen Racela came through with clutch baskets in helping the Beermen cut loose from a tight game and go on to bag a 15th third-place trophy in franchise history.

Dondon Hontiveros, Danny Seigle and Dorian Peña contributed to the effort as the Beermen recovered from a sorry fold-up in their semifinal series with the Purefoods Giants and improved a rung higher than their fourth-place finish in this tourney last year.

It was SMB’s fifth third-place finish in an all-Filipino tourney.

“As a soccer coach said ‘a setback is always a set-up for a good comeback,’” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen.

“Yes, we fell short in our objective, but it’s never too late to do the right thing. We had this opportunity and we grabbed it,” Tanquingcen added.

“It’s not as high stake as the championship but this is a kind of game where you build character -- work on game when no one’s watching,” Tanquingcen also said.

The San Miguel mentor is hopeful they can do better in the second conference where they will be fielding back Gabe Freeman for a crack at back-to-back championships.

Freeman, who has just helped the Philippine Patriots in ruling the first-ever Asean Basketball League championship, was at the Big Dome, witnessing SMB’s conquest of Ginebra.

“We have high hopes in the second conference although we know it’s gonna be doubly tough. Gabe was able to sneak in last year because he’s not yet known here then. The situation is different now,” said Tanquingcen.

The Beermen toppled the Ginebra Kings themselves in the Fiesta Conference finals last year.

Last night, SMB showed its mastery of Ginebra, putting up a more determined effort in their duel.

Hontiveros put in a team-high 18 points while Peña came through with a double-double job with 11 rebounds and 10 points that went with five assists and one steal.

Ildefonso added 15 points, including five in the homestretch.

The Beermen played a solid all-around game in a turnaround from their scrambling showing in their last three games versus the Giants in the semis.

“We lost the semis battle due to a lot of factors. One thing was that our coaching staff wasn’t able to put the team in a good situation to win,” said Tanquingcen.

“Medyo nawala rin ang rhythm with the break after the elimination round. Yes, we’re a talented team but our players are not one-on-one talents. They’re no Kerby Raymundo or James Yap, na ibigay mo ang bola sa kanila, may mangyayari at mangyayari,” Tanquingcen added

The scores:

First Game

San Miguel 95 – Hontiveros 18, Ildefonso 15, Seigle 10, Pena 10, Villanueva 9, Cortez 9, Washington 8, Racela 8, Miranda 6, Holper 2, Custodio 0.

Ginebra 88 – Tubid 22, Intal 13, Alvarez 10, Caguioa 9, Mamaril 8, Villanueva 8, Helterbrand 7, Baguio 4, White 3, Wilson 2, Abarrientos 2, Salvacion 0.

Quarterscores: 24-31, 47-43, 69-70, 95-88

Second Game

Purefoods 81 – Yap J. 24, Raymundo 15, Pingris 13, Canaleta 8, Reavis 6, Allado 6, Yap R. 5, Maierhofer 2, Simon 2, Artadi 0.

Alaska 77 – Miller 23, De Vance 10, Thoss 9, Tenorio 8, Hugnatan 8, Borboran 7, Cablay 5, Dela Cruz 4, Ferriols 3, Fonacier 0, Cariaso 0.

Quarterscores: 15-19, 36-36, 61-58, 81-77

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