Ginebra claims third straight win, extends Air 21’s woes

MANILA -- Barangay Ginebra San Miguel extended their win streak to three games after dispatching the Air 21 Express, 78-69, in the myDSL PBA Philippine Cup eliminations on Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

With his team down 57-46, Yeo opened the fourth quarter with five straight points to inch the Express within six. Chris Ellis hit back with a deuce but Chito Jaime made a basket to pull Air 21 closer, 59-53. Ginebra, however, scored the next five points to extend their margin back to 11, less than nine minutes left in the game.

KG Canaleta hit a trey on the next possession but Ellis responded with a jumper of his own to keep Ginebra ahead, 66-56. On the next trip down, Canaleta nailed another triple to cut the deficit to seven, but Greg Slaughter willed his way inside for a bucket. Air 21 answered with a basket but Slaughter again took a feed from Japeth Aguilar for another layup to make the count 70-61.

The Express strung up four straight points – a dunk from Asi Taulava and a layup from Yeo – to pull within 65-70, but Mac Baracael scored on a breakaway layup to push Ginebra’s advantage to seven, 72-65, at the 4:44 mark in the fourth period.

After Yeo made another hoop inside, Aguilar scored for Ginebra to keep the lead at seven, 74-67. On the next play, Mark Cardona converted on a shot to keep Air 21 within striking distance, 74-69, but Slaughter scored on a putback with 1:30 left in the game to give the Gin Kings a seven-point edge.

In the ensuing plays, Aguilar was fouled and hit two freethrows with 44.2 seconds remaining for the final tally. The 6-10 forward spearheaded Ginebra's attack and finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and eight blocks. The Gin Kings now hold a 6-1 card while Air 21 dropped to 1-7.

Ginebra was only up by three, 23-20, before they erected a 15-point lead heading into intermission thanks to an 18-6 run, capped by a triple from Helterbrand. Slaughter led Ginebra with 11 points, while Yeo had seven for Air 21 in the first 24 minutes of the game.

The Gin Kings shot 28.6-percent from the field in the first quarter, scoring only 15 points but produced a 26-point output in the second canto.

Ginebra 78 -- Aguilar 22, Slaughter 19, Ellis 10, Caguioa 8, Baracael 7, Tenorio 4, Reyes 2, Helterbrand 2, Mamaril 2,Forrester 2, Monfort 0, Urbiztondo 0.

Air 21 69 -- Yeo 28, Canaleta 14, Taulava 8, Camson 8, Cardona 4, Jaime 2, Burtscher 2, Custodio 2, Arboleda 1, Matias 0, Espiritu 0, Sharma 0, Ritualo 0.