Red-hot SMB wins 6th straight at sister-team Ginebra’s expense

MANILA, Philippines – Mark it six straight wins for San Miguel. Make it fifth consecutive losses for Barangay Ginebra. Jay Washington scored two back-breaking baskets and Dondon Hontiveros nailed a pair of dagger treys as the Beermen stretched their winning streak in the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup Wednesday night with a 95-80 dumping of the struggling Kings at the Araneta Coliseum. Washington and Hontiveros each finished with 19 points as they led a big finishing kick by the Beermen who are off to their best start in the last five years with a perfect 6-0 card. “It’s fun to play with these guys. We’re playing as a team moving the ball well at this time," said Washington, who added seven rebounds for a San Miguel squad that hit 13-of-27 from three-point range. The last two of those treys were courtesy of the hot-shooting Hontiveros, whose six straight points put the outcome of the game beyond doubt, 92-80, in the final 73 seconds. The Kings had earlier crept to within 82-79 when Washington struck for back-to-back baskets on a mismatch off Ronald Tubid to push the lead to 86-79. Following a split by Rod Nealy, Hontiveros took over to seal the win for the Beermen. JayJay Helterbrand had 24 and Nealy 21 for the Kings who suffered their fifth straight setback in six outings. Compounding the woes of the defending champions were a 12-of-26 shooting they had from the foul line. – GMANews.TV