Kings superior to Aces, pace race

Barangay Ginebra, which had to go through the backdoor to make it to the quarterfinals, vaulted right in front of the rest at the start of the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference quarterfinals.

Riding the momentum of their stirring 108-105 win over the Sta. Lucia Realtors Sunday, the Kings played steady throughout and repulsed the Alaska Milk Aces, 80-73, as the single round unfolded at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Kings unleashed better offensive clip than the Aces with 45.2 percent shooting from the field and limited themselves to only 10 turnovers in an impressive follow-up to their crucial win over the Realtors to gain the head start in the short quarterfinal phase of the tournament.

The Kings pounced on an Alaska squad which seemed to grope for form and rhythm brought about by the Aces’ long break after the elims.

"Usually teams coming off a break for more than a week lose their stings. Mukhang nawala ang rhythm ng Alaska and it proved to be a big factor in our victory," said Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen.

Alaska coach Tim Cone didn’t make that as an excuse, saying they lost the game because "we didn’t show up collectively."

"Some of the guys came out to play above par but some showed up playing below par. They fumbled the game away on rebounds and passes," rued Cone.

The Aces obviously came out rusty, committing 20 errors – five in the fourth quarter – and were limited to a conference-low output.

With the quotient in a possible tie in mind, Tanquingcen still sued for time with the game in the bag in the last two seconds.

He later apologized to Cone, afraid the Alaska coach may felt bad about it.

"Baka masamain ni coach. I was just thinking of the quotient if ever we figure in a tie," said Tanquingcen.

Though Mark Caguioa misfired the team’s final offensive thrust, the Kings won the game convincingly mainly through the efforts of Torraye Braggs, Eric Menk, Jayjay Helterbrand, Rodney Santos, Sunday Salvacion and Caguioa himself.

The six players all played 19 minutes or more and did a good job playing a zone defense or matching up with their respective men.

Bragg and Caguioa scored three points each in a crucial six-to-nothing run late in the third quarter as the Kings seized the lead, 59-53, and kept the Aces at bay the rest of the way.

Ahead by five at 76-71, the Kings eventually clinched the game on a buzzer-beating turnaround jumper by Menk with 1:08 left to play.