Mark Caguioa of Ginebra (light) vs Cyrus Baguio of Alaska (dark) of the pick from greg Slauhgter. Nuki Sabio/PBA
MANILA, Philippines — Ginebra punched a ticket to the semifinals with a 108-95 win Saturday night at the Cuneta Astrodome, ending Alaska’s valiant run in the 2014 PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup.
Brimming with confidence this time, the Kings ended first half with a high 69-point output, most in any half by a team this conference, looking nothing like the hapless team that lost to the Aces last Wednesday.
“Our intensity and energy was really great today. That was the difference. We played really good,” said an elated head coach Ato Agustin.
Ginebra, the top-seeded team in the elimination round, marches on to the final four and will face either Talk N’ Text or San Mig Coffee.
Japeth Aguilar finished the night with 29 points, a career-best for the Kings’ bean pole, along with 14 rebounds and five blocks.
Star Guard LA Tenorio had 22 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals for Ginebra, which had a field day turning Aces’ miscues and misses to gold.
Chris Ellis had 16 points, Mark Caguioa and Mac Baracael added 12 each and Greg Slaughter finished with 11 points for the Kings.
They led by as many as 31 points early in the third quarter, hitting even the toughest of shots while the Aces struggled even from point blank range, which was the story of the night for both teams.
After surviving three do-or-die matches in the last two weeks, Alaska just ran out of steam and couldn’t recover from the first quarter jarring by Ginebra.
JVee Casio scored 16 for the Aces, all but five in the fourth where they pulled to within 11 but the run was just too late to threaten the Kings.