San Mig outclasses listless Ginebra five

PJ SImon vs Mark Caguioa. PBA IMAGES by Nuki Sabio

Before the season’s biggest crowd, San Mig Coffee tore Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to shreds, 78-68, last night in what was supposed to be the thrilling finale to a rare tripleheader.

The Mixers rebounded from a pathetic start and held the Gin Kings to just eight points in the first quarter to post leads of as many as 22 points before coasting to their third straight win and a share of second place in the PBA Philippine Cup.

Joe Devance hit two triples in a torrid fourth-quarter stretch as the Mixers broke the game wide open and prompted many of the close to 20,000 Smart Araneta Coliseum fans to form bee lines to the exits.

San Mig won its previous two games despite not being in its best form, but its fifth win in seven outings was so clinical that Ginebra looked like it didn’t belong in the same class as the Mixers.

“We played a great defensive game tonight and there were times that Ginebra shot themselves in the foot with missed layups and such,” San Mig’s Tim Cone said later. “That happens in the midst of a downtime, when you lose some games.”

This latest loss was not just “some” for the Kings, who took a fifth straight defeat flush on the chin, their 2-5 card now good for an eighth-place tie with idle Air21.

Devance finished with 18 points and was named Best Player of the Game even as James Yap, Peter June Simon and Marc Pingris all finished in twin digits.

Ginebra came into the game with three veterans on the injured list, and the Kings also lost Dylan Ababou early to a suspected ACL injury.

The Kings actually started with an 8-1 lead, but the first quarter ended with Ginebra trailing, 8-15, after going scoreless for most of the last six minutes of the quarter.

Mark Caguioa led the Kings with 16 points, all scored in the final three periods.

The scores:

Third Game

SANMIG COFFEE 78—Devance 18, Yap 14, Simon 13, Pingris 11, De Ocampo 7, Barroca 6, Reavis 4, Villanueva 3, Intal 2, Gonzales 0.

GINEBRA 68—Caguioa 16, Tenorio 12, Ellis 11, Jensen 8, Mamaril 7, Maierhofer 6, Cortez 6, Ababou 2, Espiritu 0, Wilson 0, Hatfield 0.

Quarters: 15-8, 41-29, 61-45, 78-68