PBA wRap: Petron regains winning form behind Arwind Santos

MANILA, Philippines – Four weeks into the PBA season, fans are beggining to see streaks from teams and players.

Petron started to win again behind the strong play of forward Arwind Santos. The Alaska Aces are also on a winning streak with the help of rookie Calvin Abueva.

On a bad streak meanwhile, is Barangay Ginebra San Miguel dropping 3-straight games after a promising 2-0 start.

THE RUNDOWN

Meralco vs Air21

Meralco made a furious run in the 4th quarter behind high scoring guards, Sol Mercado and Mac Cardona to get an 85-72 win over Air21.

Former Ginebra guard John Wilson led Air21 in scoring with 16 markers but he’s the only express to reach double digits in scoring.

Best Player: Mac Cardona (18 pts, 3 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl)
Cardona scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half helping secure the victory for the Bolts.

Cliff Hodge (0 pts, 3 rebs, 1 ast, 2 stls)
Yousef Taha (9 rebs, 9 asts, 3 asts, 1 blk)

Petron vs Ginebra

Playing with ‘more heart’ the Petron Blaze Boosters outlasted the struggling Ginebra San Miguel, 98-95, in a battle with playoffs-like atmosphere. The win comes after forward Arwind Santos openly called out point guard Alex Cabagnot for his less than stellar play.

Ginebra suffered their third straight setback following a promising start to the season. Veterans Mark Caguioa, LA Tenorio, and Kerby Raymundo carried the fight for Ginebra but only got scattered contributions from the rest of the team.

Best Player: Arwind Santos (22 pts, 17 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blks, 1 stl)
‘Spiderman’ had a marvelous performance scoring 22 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Cabagnot, perhaps responding to Santos’ challenge, also played well. He tallied 25 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 steal.

Barako Bull vs Talk ‘N Text

Talk ‘N Text stretched their winning streak to 5 despite poor shooting. They survived a late rally from Barako Bull for a 79-76 victory.

Barako big men Enrico Villanueva and Doug Kramer carried the fight for their squad with the latter scoring most of his points in a late run. Both grabbed 7 rebounds and scored 16 and 15 points respectively.

Best Player: Jayson Castro (15 pts, 2 rebs, 2 asts)
Castro nailed a three-pointer late in the ballgame to secure the 5th victory of the Texters in the All-Filipino Cup.

Rain or Shine vs San Mig Coffee

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters pull-off an 80-79 come-from-behind victory behind the hot shooting hands of Jeff ‘The Sniper’ Chan including 2 four-point plays that helped close the gap.

SanMig Coffee star James Yap was ejected from the game with a little over 2 minutes left after incurring a flagrant-1 infraction for hitting Jireh Ibañes in the head in a fast break play. Yap also earned a technical foul earlier in the game leading to his ejection.

Best Player: Jeff Chan (22 pts, 4/6 3PT FG, 1 reb, 3 asts)
4-point plays are a rarity but Chan nailed 2 of them late in the game to help his team get the win.

Alaska vs Air21

Alaska has been on a tear extending their winning streak to 3 after cruising to a 92-81 win over Air21. Casio led the Aces in scoring with 19 points on 3 out of 6 shooting from downtown to go along with 5 assists.

Air21’s John Wilson was held to just 7 points – his first singe-digit output in the tournament. Bonbon Custodio picked up his scoring but it wasn’t enough to get the win.

Best Player: Calvin Abueva (16 pts, 12 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk)
The Beast recorded another double-double in just his second game as a pro. He earns best player honors for his efforts. Can he keep it up?

Petron vs Global Port

Petron ends its coaching dilemma opting to give the steering wheel to former franchise mainstay Olsen Racela and it paid off as they clobbered Global Port for a 110-98 victory.

Rookie Vic Manuel churned out a double-double performance (23 its, 10 rebs) and another rookie, Jason Deutchmann, continued his strong play for Global Port filling up the stat sheet with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

Best Player: Arwind Santos (29 pts, 17 rebs, 2 asts, 2 blks)
It’s just another day in the office for the Petron co-captain as he churned out another strong performance for his squad who seems to be slowly getting into its formidable form.

Talk ‘N Text vs Rain or Shine

Talk ‘N Text remained unbeaten as they rely on defense and staged a comeback from a double-digit deficit to steal an 80-77 victory over fellow league leaders Rain or Shine.

The Texters shut down the Painters’ leading scorer Jeff Chan. He managed only 6 points despite averaging 23 points per game coming into the ballgame.

Best Player: Larry Fonacier (12 pts, 7 rebs, 4 asts)
The ‘Babyface Assassin’ hit timely baskets in the 4th to help the Texters keep their record unscathed.

RAPPLER’S ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Calvin Abueva vs Air 21 (16 pts, 12 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk)
Another double-double for ‘The Beast’ earned him this pick. His effort and impact in Alaska is undeniable but as teams get to see more of him play, they’ll be more prepared against his game. Can he continue to put up these numbers for the rest of the conference?

Runner ups:

• Vic Manuel vs Petron (23 pts, 10 rebs, 1 ast, 2 stls, 1 blk)
• Yousef Taha vs Meralco (9 pts, 9 rebs, 3 asts, 1 blk)
• Jason Deutchmann vs Petron (14 pts, 6 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls, 1 blk)

STANDINGS

LEAGUE LEADERS

 

WHO TO WATCH OUT FOR?

Petron Blaze Boosters
The coaching dilemma is out of the way and the preseason favorites are starting to find a way to win despite playing without 6’10” center JuneMar Fajardo. Arwind Santos has been putting up monster numbers and there are rumors that Jay Washington, who plays the same position, could be on his way out. It’s going to be interesting to see how this all pans out.

LA Tenorio (Ginebra  San Miguel)
It’s been a while since Ginebra lost 3-straight. After looking really good in their first 2 games, the Kings have fallen and the players’ familiarity with each other could be the issue. The burden falls on newly acquired floor general LA Tenorio as he tries to find a way to keep everyone happy while getting his own numbers. – Rappler.com