PBA wRap: Petron and Ginebra on the rise

MANILA, Philippines – Sister teams are on the rise.

Petron Blaze Boosters and Ginebra San Miguel – two teams under the San Miguel Corporation group – are playing well leading up to the crucial stages of the Philippine Cup eliminations.

Both teams were favorites heading into the season, thanks to rosters beefed up by highly-touted rookies and new acquisitions. However, chemistry issues held back the teams.

Now, the two powerhouses are on a 3-game winning streak, owing to old reliables and bonafide superstars Arwind Santos and Mark Caguioa.

Santos has tallied the most double-doubles in the conference while reigning league MVP Mark Caguioa has been on a scoring tear tallying nothing lower than 20 points in their recent victories.

Find out more about how both squads played in the rundown below.

THE RUNDOWN

Petron vs Global Port

Petron dominated Global Port in first draft pick JuneMar Fajardo’s first game returning from a scrotum injury. The Boosters got 14 points from the 6’10” center and huge 3-point shooting nights from Gilas 1.0 players Chris Lutz (4/5 3-PT FGs) and Marcio Lassiter (3/6 3-PT FGs).

Batang Pier’s top scorers Gary David and Willie Miller were shut down scoring just 10 and 6 points, respectively.

Best Player: Arwind Santos (20 pts, 13 rebs, 1 ast)
Santos was in his usual form tallying yet another double to lead Petron to victory.

Ginebra vs Alaska

Mark Caguioa showed one more time why he is the reiging league MVP exchanging baskets with and defending Cyrus Baguio late in the game to give Ginebra San Miguel a tight 96-93 win over Alaska.

Mac Baracael, who also hit a huge corner jumper late in the game, led Alaska with 21 points.

Best Player: Mark Caguioa (24 pts, 2 rebs, 4 asts, 2 stls)
Caguioa got a second-straight player of the week nod from the PBA following this performance. Ginebra also drew solid performances from Billy Mamaril (16 its, 12 rebs, 2 asts) and rookie Chris Ellis (12 pts, 5 rebs (4 off), 4 asts)

Rain or Shine vs Meralco

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters prevailed against Meralco Bolts in what was one of the most physical games played in the Philippine Cup this season. Nine players from both teams were slapped with fines for committing technical and flagrant fouls.

Coach Yeng Guiao was also slapped with a penalty. Nothing new for the fiery head coach.

Here are the details of the penalties (All fines in Php):

Fines meted out on ff players of Meralco:
1. Cliff Hodge – Flagrant 1 (playing the man, not the ball) 5,000
2. Kelly Nabong – Flagrant 1 (taking a fighting stance) 5,000
3. Sol Mercado – Technical Foul (taunting, 2nd offense) 1,600
4. Mac Cardona – Technical Foul (use of profanity) 1,000
5. Jay-R Reyes – Technical Foul ( second motion) 1,000

Fines meted out on ff players of Rain or Shine:
1. JR Quinahan – Flagrant 2 (vicious blow to the head of Mercado) 20,000
2. Ryan Araña – Flagrant 2 (kicking hodge in the groin area) 20,000
3. Larry Rodriguez – Flagrant 1 (playing the man, not the ball) 5,000
4. Ronnie Matias – Technical Foul (pointing an accusing finger at the referee) 1,000
5. Coach Yeng Guiao – Technical Foul (use of profanity, 3rd offense) 2,400

Best Player: Gabe Norwood (15 pts, 11 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blks, 1 stl)
Norwood delivered an all around performance filling up the stat sheet and combining with fellow Gilas standout Jeff Chan to get the W.

Talk ‘N Text vs SanMig Coffee

In a much anticipated match-up of two teams high up in the standings, Talk ‘N Text showed why they are the team to beat this conference after clobbering SanMig Coffee, 92-63.

Joe Devance turned in solid numbers for the Mixers (12 pts, 14 rebs) but the Texters defense was too suffocating leading to SanMig Coffee’s lowest output in the conference.

Best Player: Jimmy Alapag (19 pts, 3/3 3-PT FGs, 4 rebs, 5 asts, 1 stl)
The ‘Mighty Mouse’ led all scorers with 19 points and was scorching hot from the outside hitting and making all of his attempts from downtown.

Meralco vs Global Port

Sol Mercado proved he can perform in the clutch scoring 9 points in the waning moments of the game to lead his team to a 101-92 victory over Global Port Batang Pier.

Gary David was in his usual deadly self firing 33 points to go along with 5 rebounds and an assist but his efforts were in vain as Global Port suffered yet another loss.

Best Player: Kelly Nabong (18 pts, 11 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls)
Rookie big man Kelly Nabong had a breakout performance tallying a double-double to help the Bolts secure the victory.

San Mig Coffee vs Air21

Tim Cone’s squad bounces back from a disappointing showing against Talk ‘N Text with an 89-80 victory over Air21. James Yap led all scorers with 20 points.

KG Canaleta paced the Express with 18 points, front liners James Sena and Mark Isip added 10 apiece in a losing effort.

Best Player: Mark Barroca (12 pts, 5 rebs, 2 asts)
Barroca played heavy minutes as the Mixers floor general and he responded with a solid game to help his team bounce back from a 29-point loss.

Petron vs Barako Bull

The Petron Blaze Boosters are steadily upping their level of play as the elimination round of the Philippine Cup heads into crucial stages. The Boosters notched their 3rd straight win at the expense of Barako Bull, 93-83.

Barako Bull struggled to shoot the basket all game and remained near the bottom of the standings after suffering their third straight setback. Doug Kramer had a huge rebounding night. He hauled down 21 boards to go with 15 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals.

Best Player: Arwind Santos (21 pts, 12 rebs, 3 blks, 1 ast, 1 stl)
Santos has been a double-double machine the entire conference. He is averaging 17.45 points and 12.27 rebounds.

RAPPLER’S ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Kelly Nabong vs Global Port (18 pts, 11 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls)
Nabong had been the “other” rookie in Meralco for the most part of the conference but showed he can also get the job done following this double-double effort against Global Port.

Runner-ups:

• JuneMar Fajardo vs Global Port (14 pts, 7 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk)
• Chris Ellis vs Alaska (12 pts, 5 rebs (4 off), 4 asts)

WHO TO WATCH OUT FOR

Chris Tiu

The former Gilas captain has been out most of the conference due to hamstring injury. In a report on spin.ph, Coach Yeng Guaio is thinking of giving some minutes to the guard from Ateneo in their game against Ginebra on Sunday, November 25, 2012.