Ginebra stops San Miguel juggernaut

Ginebra stops San Miguel juggernaut

By rick olivares with pic by tunying p.

The Barangay Ginebra Kings sure know a thing or two about being in holes. Their history is littered with it.

There was that 3-1 series deficit to Shell in 1991 where their comeback to win the Open Conference and there’s being down once more 3-1 to Red Bull Barako but ultimately falling 4-3 in 2005-06.

And there’s this conference where they have not beaten San Miguel in four tries and as a result of their last two losses in the semifinals, were possibly staring at a 3-0 hole from which no team has come back.

Beleaguered Ginebra coach Jong Uichico shuffled his lineup as he inserted Mark Caguioa in the starting unit while placing Willie Miller on the bench. That stratagem work in the first half as the Kings went up by 25 points at 46-21 in the second period. Ginebra shot 63% from the field with Caguioa, Miller, and Ronald Tubid each scoring nine points.

However even a 20-plus lead isn’t something that fazes the Beermen who have been buried twice by Ginebra in the eliminations only for them to stage a roaring comeback and pip the Kings in the end.

And sure enough, the inevitable San Miguel run came in the third quarter behind Paul Artadi and the hot three-point shooting of the Beermen. San Miguel scored 29 points to Ginebra’s 21 points to come within striking distance 73-61.

But the Kings, behind a pumped up Caguioa and Rudy Hatfield (16 points and 9 rebounds), repulsed the repeated rallies by the Beermen to eke out a 95-78 win and to formally make it a series.

The Beermen beat the Kings in almost every statistical category except field goal percentage where Jong Uichico’s boys sustained their blistering attack while shooting 47%. The switch between Miller and Caguioa didn’t hurt as the former still led his team in scoring with 19.

“They’re a tough team,” said Uichico who paid tribute to his former squad who he skippered to six championships. “We hope to have more of the same in our next game (Wednesday) because they will make their adjustments. Any time you get a win is good. Now we know we can beat them.”