Rookie Romeo sparks pride, fire on Ginebra star Caguioa

Terrence Romeo of GlobalPort (dark) vs Mark Caguioa and Chris Ellis of Ginebra (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines — Mark Caguioa saw Terrence Romeo on the other side, doing the things he had done more than a decade ago.

That sparked a fire on Caguioa, as the seasoned superstar of Barangay Ginebra realized that he wasn’t ready to pass the torch to the young ones just yet.

He engaged the 21-year-old guard in a duel, a shootout for the ages, and came out victorious with a 109-104 victory for the Kings over Globalport Thursday night.

“I wanted to match his scoring, his intensity. I was looking at the scoreboard, I had 15 points and he was already up in the 20s. That’s where my being a competitor came out,” Caguioa said.

It was the Romeo show for the better part of the fourth as he showcased his phenomenal scoring prowess — shaking off his taller defenders then finishing with either a long bomb or a drive in traffic.

But that came to a halt as Caguioa took over, showing off a performance obviously driven by pride and heart, unleashing 14 points in the fourth quarter and erasing any chances for a comeback by Globalport.

“Ayaw ko masapawan. Mas mayabang ako dun, mas maangas ako (I don’t want to be overshadowed. I was more proud, more aggressive),” said Caguioa in the best player interview. “It’s part of the game”

Caguioa wound up with a game-best 29 points, and the rookie at least 13 years his junior scored 27.

In the same week that a star was born in the PBA, Caguioa showed the league he could still just as easily dominate, like he had for years.

“For us veterans, let’s show the rookies that we can still keep up with them.”