ASI Taulava of Meralco and Erik Menk of Ginebra in a fierce battle for the rebound in last night’s game. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
ANTIPOLO—Kerby Raymundo highlighted his finest performance in a Barangay Ginebra uniform by keying a third-quarter breakaway that boosted the Gin Kings to an 89-76 win over the Meralco Bolts at the start of the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals last night at the Ynares Center here.
Raymundo, the former Purefoods star, scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the third as the Gin Kings won back-to-back games for the first time in the conference and rose to 6-4 overall. The Bolts stayed dead last at 4-6.
“As I have been saying before, that is farthest from my mind,” Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen said when informed of his first consecutive wins in the conference.
“What we want is a good start to the round. We are all bunched up in the standings. Bugbugan muna kami dito sa ilalim (It’s a brawl in the lower portion of the standings).”
Arwind Santos hit a wide-open follow up of an Alex Cabagnot miss in the final seven seconds and saved defending champion Petron Blaze from a horrible collapse with a 90-88 decision of Rain or Shine in the second game also giving it a 6-4 card.
The Boosters led by as many as 22 points in the first half but had to work doubly hard in the stretch before dealing the league-leading Painters just their second loss in 10 games.
Ginebra started hot and held the Bolts to just 10 first-period points before peeling away in the third quarter for a 73-50 lead.
The scores:
First Game
GINEBRA 89—Raymundo 16, Bozeman 13, Maliksi 12, Caguioa 10, Cortez 8, W. Wilson 6, Menk 6, Ababou 5, Villanueva 5, Helterbrand 5, Maierhofer 2, Hatfield 1, Mamaril 0.
MERALCO 76—West 22, Taulava 17, Mercado 12, Cardona 12, Hugnatan 9, Ross 2, Artadi 2, Bulawan 0, Ballesteros 0, Daa 0, Reyes 0, Macapagal 0.
Quarters: 25-10, 43-30, 73-50, 89-76
Second Game
PETRON 90—Faison 20, Yeo 14, Santos 12, Washington 11, Cabagnot 9, Lutz 7, Reyes 6, Miranda 6, Pena 5, Baclao 0, Hontiveros 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 88—Cornely 36, Lee 15, Norwood 10, Chan 10, Cruz 7, Belga 6, Matias 2, Tang 2, Arana 0, Quiñahan 0, Buenafe 0, Ibañes 0.
Quarters: 29-24, 56-39, 72-62, 90-88