Caguioa, Ginebra edge San Mig Coffee to force Game 7

By: Mark Giongco - 11 years ago

Greg Slaughter of Ginebra (light) vs Rafi Reavis of San Mig Coffee (dark). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines—Mark Caguioa played his best game yet and it couldn’t have come at a better time for Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Monday night.

Caguioa topscored with 21 points to push the Kings past the San Mig Coffee Mixers in a 94-91 thriller and into a deciding Game 7 in the 2014 PBA Philippine Cup semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“We won because of our defense, we were aggressive and we were able to come back,” said Ginebra coach Ato Agustin after his team rallied from 14 points down. “I told them to be patient, let’s cut down the lead slowly, we can’t just rush things.”

Slowly but surely, the Kings found their way back as the game went down-the-wire before a pair of free throws from Caguioa and Greg Slaughter in the final 16.2 ticks and a last-second defensive stop sealed the win.

Caguioa calmly sank his charities to give Ginebra the lead, 92-91, off a foul by James Yap before the rookie Slaughter made a couple freebies with 2.0 seconds left after PJ Simon missed a one-hander near the free throw line.

The seven-foot Slaughter finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds while LA Tenorio bounced back with 16 points after getting the flak for his decision-making in the waning seconds of Game 5.

“I was really down after last game,” Tenorio acknowledged. “Actually, I didn’t think of myself to bounce back. I just thought I need to bounce back to help the team win and the players also responded that helped us to win.”

Agustin wasn’t the only one who got to speak with his team during halftime. PBA legend Robert Jaworski, who attended the game, also had something to say as he made a surprise visit at the Ginebra dugout after the Kings stared at a 41-50 halftime deficit.

It was a brief talk but Jaworksi’s message was clearly felt by the Kings, who came out strong in the third quarter where they outscored the Mixers, 32-24.

“In the first half some of the players were too eager to beat San Mig, which is what senator Jaworski pointed out. He just said that it’s not easy to beat San Mig and we need to relax and enjoy the game,” said Tenorio.

Dynamic forward Marc Pingris scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half for the Mixers as he dominated Japeth Aguilar in their matchup anew.

Game 7 is set on Wednesday at 8 p.m. also at the Big Dome.