Kings solid finish breaks losing spell

Barangay Ginebra outsmarted Coca-Cola at endgame last night, eking out an 84-81 win to break its three-game losing spell in the Gran Matador Brandy PBA Philippine Cup at the Astrodome.

Losing their last three games by an average margin of 15 points, the Kings snapped their embarrassing slump with all their ace players delivering for the team.

Mark Caguioa and Eric Menk combined for 40 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists and came through with the key plays in the final stretch as the Kings survived the Tigers in a fierce contest.

The Tigers fought the Kings through four deadlocks and 12 lead changes but sputtered in the end, going scoreless in the last two minutes of play.

Avoiding what could have been their first four consecutive losses since the 2005 Fiesta Conference, the Kings improved their win-loss mark to 3-3 in this All-Filipino tourney which they won over the Talk n Text Phone Pals last year.

The Tigers suffered their second straight defeat and fell to 4-2.

"It feels good to win again after three straight extremely bad losses. We’re still struggling. I just hope we build on this win and keep on improving," said Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen.

The Ginebra mentor said they’ve been struggling since they’ve been trying adopt a new system in their game. "We’re trying a new system. We still don’t have fluidity in our game and a dry spell is really bound to happen," he said.

"I wasn’t that aggressive in our last few games. I took more shots tonight and I think it helped a lot," said Caguioa who led all scorers with 21 points, including four in the last two minutes of play.

Caguioa outplayed Dale Singson in their matchup at the finish with the Ginebra stalwart delivering crucial baskets and the Coca-Cola guard making bad plays on the other end of the court.

After Caguioa broke an 81-all standoff, Singson committed an offensive foul on Rodney Santos then, a play later, missed an ill-advised three-point shot.

Purefoods exacted some measure of revenge versus recent Fiesta Cup finals tormentor Red Bull as the Giants ripped the Bulls, 93-80, to gain a share of the lead with the Tigers and the San Miguel Beermen with identical 4-2 records in the nightcap.