INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—This Cabatu certainly has a different ability than the one who played for Barangay Ginebra before.

Jun Jun Cabatu, the son of the former Ginebra center who had some forgettable endgame blunders in his career, hit three clutch triples in the fourth quarter Sunday night to lead the Gin Kings past Air21, 101-92, and into a share of the early KFC-PBA Philippine Cup lead.

The 6-foot-4 24-year-old, who was the last to earn a spot on the Ginebra roster, finished with 23 markers in a performance that made up for the absence of some key Kings.

“What can I say,” coach Jong Uichico later said at the Araneta Coliseum press room. “You don’t know how you win games. I think we’re really playing as a team and not concentrating on having one person do the scoring.”

Earlier, Kelly Williams scored 12 points in the third period and Nelbert Omolon 15 in the fourth to lead a big second half that lifted Sta. Lucia Realty past title favorite Talk ‘N Text, 117-96.

Williams, last season’s MVP, also hit nine points in the fourth and Omolon tossed in 24 in the final two quarters as the defending champion Realtors improved to 1-1 and became the first team to bring down the Texters.

Sonny Cabatu won a title with Ginebra during the Robert Jaworski era and had a career-high of 25 points. But never was he a go-to-guy like his son was Sunday night as Jun-Jun delivered the killer blows that sealed the Express’ third straight loss.

Ranidel de Ocampo shoved the Express ahead for the last time in the seesaw game with a triple with 4:02 left, before the Kings hit 11 unanswered points built around two Cabatu triples and another from Ronald Tubid.

Jun-Jun also had six rebounds, five assists and two steals in a performance that will surely be considered once his contract runs out.

Jay-Jay Helterbrand scored 21 points and Junthy Valenzuela was reactivated from the injured list to scatter 14 as the Kings hardly showed signs of missing leading scorer Mark Caguioa and Eric Menk.

Menk joined Caguioa, Rafi Reavis and Billy Mamaril on the disabled list after pulling a hamstring in the last Ginebra game.

Four other Realtors scored in twin digits for Sta. Lucia, which scored 81 points in the second half after being held to just 36 by the Texters, who failed to show the form that gave them victories over Coca-Cola and Air21.

“It’s nice to get a win against a very strong team,” coach Boyet Fernandez told reporters later. “We made the right adjustments in the second half, especially on the shot selections of Kelly (Williams) and Bitoy (Omolon).”

The game was still close early in the third period when Williams sparked a 39-point blitz that easily surpassed the Realtors’ first-half output.

With a 75-67 lead going into the fourth quarter, the Realtors broke away for good behind an 18-4 run, capped by a Joseph Yeo basket, for an unassailable 102-82 advantage, time down to 3:47.

The Texters got just eight points from Ren-Ren Ritualo, their high-point man with 24 in the season-opening 88-87 victory against Coca-Cola two weeks ago.

Ritualo hit his only three-pointer with under two minutes left and the outcome already beyond doubt. He made just two field goals out of 12 tries, with the rest of his points coming from the stripe.

Mac Cardona scored 19 points and rookie point guard Jason Castro had 14 like Jimmy Alapag to pace the Texters.

Yeo finished with 18 points while the Sta. Lucia defense made life hard for highly touted rookie Jared Dillinger, the second overall choice in the Draft, who was limited to just 11 points, on 4-of-14 shooting from the field, five rebounds and one assist.

Williams, meanwhile, also had 10 rebounds, five assists and a block in his 44 minutes on the floor.

The scores:

First Game

STA. LUCIA 117—Williams 25, Omolon 24, Yeo 18, Gonzales 14, Reyes 13, Miranda 11, Espino 8, Daa 2, Aquino 2, Gregorio 0, Mendoza 0.

TALK ‘N TEXT 96—Cardona 19, Castro 14, Alapag 14, Dillnger 11, Carey 10, Allado 10, Ritualo 8, De Ocampo 8, Aljamal 2, Reyes 0, Lao 0.

Quarters: 18-14, 36-37, 75-67, 117-96

Second Game

GINEBRA 101—Cabatu 23, Helterbrand 21, Valenzuela 14, Tubid 13, Artadi 11, Wilson 6, Crisano 6, Pacana 4, Holper 2, Escalona 1, Salvacion 0.

AIR21 92—Santos 19, De Ocampo 15, Arboleda 12, David 11, Se 10, Quinahan 8, Billones 7, Intal 4, Cruz 3, Canaleta 3, Kramer 0.

Quarters: 22-20, 41-46, 76-77, 101-92