PBA: Kings escape past Express; Guiao slams officials

Barangay Ginebra battled back from a 15-point third quarter deficit and then heaved a sigh of relief as Ronnie Matias missed a soft, 15-foot side jumper at the buzzer to escape with a 101-100 win over Air21 Wednesday night in the PBA Fiesta Cup. The Kings survived the game without go-to-guy Mark Caguioa in the second half, survived that double-digit Express lead, and survived a final charge by their fiery opponent to notch the win coach Jong Uichico referred to as a `lost game.’ “It was a lost game. It was just an escape," he said.

The Kings secured their fourth win and escaped this one over the Express when Matias botched the game-winning basket, his shot having a good line, but somehow, the ball wouldn’t fall in, bouncing twice before finally going out. The Kings unleashed a telling 30-3 run bridging the third and fourth quarters to turn around a game the Express controlled majority of the way, leading by as many as 82-67, in the third period. By the time the Kings were through with their offensive binge, they found themselves already ahead, 97-85, with 4:49 left as the Express missed 14 straight field-goal attempts and had 5 turnovers during that stretch. Yet, Air21 wasn’t through yet. Reggie Larry, who led the Express with 30 points, instigated a 15-4 blast, punctuating it with a fast break lay-up in the last 1:16 to threaten at 101-100. Larry thought he got fouled by Willie Miller on the arm while going for the basket, but no call was made. Infuriated, Express mentor coach Yeng Guiao blasted the game officials later on. “The referee stole this game from us," said Guiao. “It’s just poor officiating. That’s unfair because we did a good effort to win the game." Air21 though, had chances to snatch back the lead after Ginebra missed its own opportunity to pad its lead after Larry’s basket. Ronjay Buenafe missed a lay-up, and Larry was called for an offensive foul – his last - against Willy Wilson in the final 33.5 seconds. And after Menk missed on another pointblank attempt in the ensuing play, Mike Cortez stole the ball from Mildon Ambres after the Ginebra import seized the offensive rebound. Cortez hurriedly dribbled up court, and never called time-out. Instead, he decided to dish off a pass to Matias, who was free from the right corner. The loss pushed Air21 further down the cellar with its seventh loss in eight games. Ambres topscored with 26 points, Menk added 19 and grabbed eight rebounds, while Willie Miller and Caguioa had 12 and 10, respectively. But Caguioa didn’t make it past halftime after he was ejected with 5:07 left in the second period after being slapped with a Flagrant Foul Penlaty 2 by referee Throngy Aldaba, whom he hit hard with the ball while the Ginebra guard was airborne trying to save the ball from going out of bounds at the baseline on a 1-against-2 fast-break play. Caguiao got upset as Aldaba got in his way while he chased the leather. As a result, the 46-42 lead Air21 had during that play increased to 49-42 after the Express hit 1 of 2 free throws for the F2 before Larry connected on a jumper. - RCJ, GMANews.TV