Mark Caguioa dedicates Christmas Day victory to Ginebra diehards

PBA/Nuki Sabio

Mark Caguioa played his 500th game on Christmas Day, sparking Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to victory over the Petron Blaze Boosters.

Struggling in his past several games while recovering from illness, Caguioa scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter to help the Gin Kings get the win — along with first place in the PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup standings — in front of 20,448 fans.

After the game, Caguioa tried to put his career into perspective.

“Wow, 500 games, that’s a lot of games. It’s just that I still have the passion. That’s why I’m out here, I’m still playing the way I’m playing, lalo na Christmas,” said Caguioa.

For him, the Ginebra spirit goes beyond just winning and losing.

“I really, really hate getting beaten by teams by 15, 20 points. I always want that never-say-die attitude and that’s the reason why No. 1 kami sa mga fans.”

But while he had his offensive explosion, Caguioa deflected the praise to Ginebra’s big men. Japeth Aguilar led the Gin Kings with 25 points and 11 rebounds, Greg Slaughter added 17 and eight, while Jay-R Reyes came off the bench for seven and 12.

“The bigs are always there at the middle, so we get open and we’re making the shots,” said Caguioa.

He has put in the additional work to get back in tiptop form after being sick.

“Medyo bumabalik na siya because I’m doing extra during practice. After practice, tumatakbo rin ako ng konti, so I can get back in shape right away.”

Caguioa dedicated the Christmas victory to fans of the league’s most popular team.

“Everyone’s at home and we have a lot of fans. Alam mo naman, (kung) malungkot yung mga fans ng Ginebra, malungkot yung buong Pilipinas.”