PBA; Kings drop slumping Beermen alone at the cellar

source: gmanews.tv

There seems to be no end to San Miguel’s woes in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
And it was sister team Barangay Ginebra that inflicted the latest loss on the league’s winningest franchise.

Mark Caguioa went berserk for 10 points in the fourth quarter and the Kings added to the Beermen’s anguish with a 106-94 win Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Caguioa led all Ginebra locals with 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting. He capped his one-man offensive show in the final period by scoring seven straight points, stretching a slim six-point Kings lead to 103-92 in the final 70 seconds.

Import Nate Brumfield was once again an unstoppable force inside, hitting for 33 points in towing the Kings to their third straight win for a share of third place with idle Alaska Aces at 4-2.

The Beermen suffered their fourth straight loss despite a 23-point effort from import Danny Young. Now they're alone at the cellar with a 1-5 card and teetering on the brink of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

The Philippine Cup runner-up failed to sustain the momentum of a strong start that saw them lead by as many as 12 early in the first half before finding themselves itied with the Kings at the break, 47-47.

Then, Ginebra took over.

With Brumfield dominating inside together with Rudy Hatfield, the Kings held on to a 77-71 lead by the end of the third, and 82-77 midway into the fourth period.

But Arwind Santos and Denok Miranda fired back-to-back three-pointers to put the Beermen on top, 83-82, with 3:18 to go.

It proved to be the Beermen’s last hurrah.

Brumfield again asserted himself inside the paint, before Caguioa racked up seven straight points for the Kings, including a long three-pointer, 101-90, with 1:22 to play.

“Hopefully, this would get us back our confidence," said Caguioa later. “We’re okay right now, but we haven’t gotten yet that old Ginebra never-say-die spirit, manalo o matalo man kami."

Hatfield, again wearing the attention-grabbing striped socks of his, added 11 points, and tormented San Miguel even more when he buried an improbable three-point shot as the clock wound down to make it 106-92 in the final 18 seconds of the game.

source: gmanews.tv