Caguioa-Tenorio tandem shines for Ginebra

Caguioa-Tenorio tandem shines for Ginebra
By Chris Lagunzad | Yahoo! PH Sports – 21 hours ago

Reigning Most Valuable Player Mark Caguioa seems to be playing beautiful music with newly-acquired playmaker La Tenorio.

The dreaded Ginebra backcourt proved that anew against Rain or Shine Sunday night, leading the Gin Kings to a 98-94 victory and a hold of the solo lead in the 38th PBA Philippine Cup at the packed Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The 6-foot-1 Caguioa tallied 22 points while Tenorio, obtained in that megatrade in the off-season, scattered 20 markers, with both scoring 14 of the Gin Kings’ last 16 points to hold off the stubborn Elasto-Painters.

“LA is a big help. He makes it easier for me and the rest of our teammates. He really opens up the court and that’s what I like about him,” stated Caguioa, who fired four triples and hauled down eight boards.

Forward Rico Maierhofer and veteran Kerby Raymundo tallied 12 apiece to provide ample support for Caguioa and Tenorio in the payoff period.

Although the win proved a stark contrast from their resounding 110-90 victory over newcomer GlobalPort in the opener last Sept. 30, Ginebra coach Siot Tangquincen will take it, saying: We didn’t play well but we’re blessed to come up with a win.

“It’s a very good win. It’s interesting how we fare against Rain or Shine. They’re one of the tough teams and they’re very fluid na.”

Sweet-shooting Jeff Chan paced all scorers with 25 points, 12 coming in the payoff period, but his potentially-tying triple in the crunch went way off the mark as the E-Painters, fresh from a clinical 102-86 win over title-favorite Petron Blaze last Wednesday, dropped to 1-1.

After a Jireh Ibanes acrobatic lay-up gave RoS a 90-87 lead, Caguioa drained a triple, followed by a Maierhofer putback before Tenorio split his charities, putting Ginebra ahead 93-90 with 1:43 left.

Ibanes scooped in another lay-up then Norwood, rising over the smaller Caguioa, turned an offensive rebound into a twinner for a shaky 94-93 Ros lead.

Taking advantage of his quickness, Tenorio sank a jumper off RoS center JR Quinahan. Norwood missed in the ensuing play and got whistled for a loose ball against Tenorio, who calmly sank his free throws that gave them a 97-94 cushion with 16.5 ticks to play.

Needing a trey to tie, Chan had a good look but his three-point attempt went off to the left, forcing Norwood to give another pre-emptive foul on Caguioa, who pegged the final count by making the front-end of his two shots.

Source: Yahoo.news