PBA: Powerade overcomes Ginebra, keeps win streak alive

PBA: Powerade overcomes Ginebra, keeps win streak alive





Powerade's JV Casio (right) prepares to stay in front of his man, Mark Caguioa. KC Cruz

Powerade overcame a 16-point first half lead to snag their fourth straight win, 86-83. The Tigers clawed back to get even in the third quarter in a closely fought game, before clamping down on defense in the final play to deny Ginebra a clear shot in the end game.

"This is the first time we won a very close game. It's good for our character. Going to our last three games, we'll be able to learn and use it,” said Powerade head coach Bo Perasol.

“Gary was defended very well; Omar was there to save the day for us. We really wanted Gary to get that streak but for him it wasn't that important than to win this game," Perasol added.

Ginebra raced to a blazing start, overwhelming Powerade from the get go. Allein Maliksi started strong for the Kings, scoring five points early to give Ginebra an 11-6 lead.




Enrico Villanueva (right) tries to drive around Powerade import Omar Sneed. KC Cruz

A Cedric Bozeman post move gave Ginebra an 18-9 advantage, before Mark Caguioa and Rico Maierhoffer added to the lead, giving the Kings a 14-point lead at the end of the first, 23-9.

A Cañaleta jumper gave Ginebra a 27-11 advantage, but Omar Sneed's back to back hits brought the lead back down to 12, 27-15. Powerade finally got extra help from Gary David and Rey Guevarra, but Bozeman continued to be aggressive, helping Ginebra reinstate a commanding 16-point lead, 39-23, with less than four minutes left in the first half.

Guevarra proved he wasn't done, scoring nine points with Casio's three to slash the lead to three, 41-38 at the end of the first half.

Early in the third, David sank a jumper to bring the Tigers within one, 45-44, but Caguioa forced the issue inside to hand the Kings a bigger lead at 47-43. David struck again with a layup, tying the game at 47-all.

A pair of Sean Anthony freethrows and a Guevara layup gave Powerade a four-point lead, but a Mike Cortez layup and an Enrico Villanueva slam gave Ginebra the lead yet again, 59-56. Gary David then drained a floater and sank two free throws to tie the game at 63-all heading to the final period.

The fourth quarter was one of constant lead changes, with each team edging out the other by a point after each conversion. Back to back hits by Kerby Raymundo and Caguioa gave Ginebra a three-point lead which was quickly erased by a David three at the other end of the court.

An Omar Sneed layup gave the Tigers an 81-79 lead with less than two minutes remaining, as Lordy Tugade followed it up with his own shot to give Powerade an 83-79 advantage.




Mike Cortez (center) slices through the heart of the Powerade defense. KC Cruz

A Dylan Ababou layup cut the lead to two, but a Sneed putback following a short Tugade baseline jumper gave Powerade an 85-81 with 18.7 seconds remaining. In the following play, Ababou got a foul while driving in for a layup.

The referees declared that the foul happened before the shot, resulting to a Ginebra inbounds play. Kerby Raymundo found himself taking it to Sneed, draining a difficult fadeaway with the Powerade import all up in his face, 85-83.

With five seconds left in the game clock, Sneed split his free throws, giving Ginebra a chance to tie or win the game. Bozeman inbounded the ball to Raymundo, who struggled with the possession.

With no offensive set in play, Dylan Ababou had to settle for a turnaround heave way beyond the threepoint line, which went wide to the left of the basket as time expired.

Sneed had 26 points and 11 rebounds in 11-of-16 shooting for the Tigers. David had less than his usual with 16, but Guavarra's 13 made up for the two-time PBA scoring champion's offensive woes. Bozeman, who had 23 points for Ginebra, got little help from his teammates, with only Mark Caguioa scoring in double figures at 12. — ELR, GMA News


The scores:

POWERADE 86 - Sneed 27, David 16, Guevarra 13, Casio 10, Salvador 6, Lingganay 4, Anthony 4, Tugade 4, Al-Hussaini 2, Vanlandingham 0, Allera 0, Antonio 0.

GINEBRA 83 - Bozeman 23, Caguioa 12, Maliksi 9, Ababou 9, Maierhofer 8, Raymundo 8, Cañaleta 5, Villanueva 4, Hatfield 3, Cortez 2, Helterbrand 0.

Quarter scoring: 9-23, 38-41, 64-63, 86-83