Gin Kings tame Bulls, extend run

MANILA, Philippines - Barangay Ginebra shackled Barako Bull with a tough defense in the fourth quarter as it hammered out a 90-78 victory to extend its streak to six in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Ronald Tubid unloaded a 19-point splurge while Mark Caguioa poured in 14 of his 17 points in the last period to help propel the Kings to the breakaway win, their sixth straight and seventh overall in nine games for solo second.

“We really struggled at the start and we’re afraid that we might take Barako lightly and that’s what happened,” said Brgy. Ginebra coach Jong Uichico, whose wards have held their rivals below 82 points this conference.

“It’s good that just like in the previous game, they could not stay in the end and we were lucky we were able to make a run,” said Uichico.

But Ginebra, a team loaded with scorers, showed it could win games with defense, forcing Barako Bull to miss 50 of its 77 shots.

In the nightcap, San Miguel Beer held off Talk n Text, 93-88, to remain on top with an 8-2 mark.

Fil-Am Jay Washington paced the Beermen with 20 points while Olsen Racela, Danny Seigle and Danny Ildefonso came through with clutch plays to help the Beermen keep their hold of the lead.

Racela fired three triples in the fourth quarter while the Ildefonso and Seigle combined for 11 points down the stretch to thwart the Tropang Texters’ fightback.

The loss dropped TnT to 6-3, enabling Ginebra to seize solo second.