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Playing an extraordinary third quarter, Barangay Ginebra bamboozled NLEX, 106-94, Friday night to clinch a playoff berth in the PBA Governors’ Cup as the Gin Kings celebrated with their biggest local star since the era of the man who gave birth to the never-say-die spirit.
Mark “The Spark” Caguioa scored 16 points and joined the exclusive 10,000-point club, helping the team plug the holes made by several injured stars as Ginebra won for the fourth straight game to rise to 6-1 at Smart Araneta Coliseum and reclaim the solo lead.
“We can now go into [the] Meralco [game] clear-minded and not focus on that anymore,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said as his charges enter the homestretch of their schedule starting Sunday against the Bolts at Sta. Rosa Multipurpose Sports Complex in Laguna.
“We’ll start making him work on his next 10,000,” Cone added, even saying that Caguioa “can play until he’s 50. He’s just that kind of a special player.”
Caguioa has followed the footsteps of the legendary Robert Jaworski, whose court toughness gave birth to Ginebra’s identity, and has been the Kings’ biggest star since the Big J.
Ginebra peeled away from the Road Warriors at the start of the second half, dropping 40 points in the third period before blowing NLEX off the floor in the fourth. Garbage time came early, allowing Cone to put Caguioa back in for the final two points he needed to make history.
And that was a bad stretch of basketball that got him calling for time and reminding his players of the task at hand, “and that is to win the game,” he said.
The loss was the first in two games for NLEX since Yeng Guiao returned from national duty and the Road Warriors dropped to 4-5 overall even as Paul Zamar hit a triple with 7.9 seconds left in the curtain raiser that sealed a come-from-behind win by Blackwater over Meralco, 94-91.
And coach Bong Ramos is seeing something in his team that is a cause for more elation.
“The players are developing character and I just hope that we continue to do that,” Ramosa said after the Elite climbed to 5-1 by roaring back from 10 points down in the final seven minutes. “It was a great bounce back, a great come-from-behind win for us.”
Ramos pushed all the right buttons when the chips were down and put all the right people on the floor when winning time came, with Mac Belo also hitting a triple and Zamar capping off their whirlwind windup with one of his own that doomed the Bolts to their fourth straight loss.
“In my heart, I know we have a chance to win every game, even though I know that all of our opponents are stronger than us,” said Ramos, who got 24 points and 14 rebounds from import Henry Walker.