PBA: Ginebra spills SMB in Game 3 to stay alive

Its back against the wall, Barangay Ginebra summoned an inner strength it has always been known for — never-say-die. Mark Caguioa and Rudy Hatfield responded to the challenge as they sparked a fiery Kings start and then helped their team survive a mini-rally by the San Miguel Beermen for a rousing 95-78 win in Game Three of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series Sunday night before a huge 18,000 crowd at the Araneta Coliseum. Chest-bumping and trash talking each other, Caguioa and Hatfield steered Ginebra’s offense early, with the league’s most popular ballclub racing to a 30-14 lead after one quarter. And with still five minutes left before halftime, the Kings were already up by as much as 46-21, generating wild chants of Ginebra! Ginebra! Ginebra! from the partisan crowd. Caguioa finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Hatfield added 16 in the Kings’ breakthrough win in the best-of-seven series, which the Beermen still lead, 2-1. Still, the victory came like a rain in the desert for the Kings. “We just needed to win this one," admitted Caguioa later. “People just don’t know that me and Rudy were into it. Hindi naman kami nag-aaway. We’re just emotional about having to win this one." Willie Miller came off the bench to topscore for Ginebra with 19 points, while Eric Menk played his second game for the Kings coming off an injury and finished with 12 points, including a surprising three-pointer in the final two minutes and with the outcome already decided. After each scoring 29 points in the Beermen’s 108-102 win in Game Two, Jay Washington and Dondon Hontiveros had a combined 26 points this time. The athletic, 6-foot-7 Washington even got into early foul trouble when he was tasked to take on Hatfield after the energetic Ginebra forward came out aggressively on offense. But San Miguel managed to creep its way back into the game. Finding a sparkplug in Paul Artadi, the Beermen cut the large 25-point deficit down to nine at 52-61 on a three-pointer by Washington with 4:22 to play in the third period. The Kings, though, wouldn’t be denied of the win, as Hatfield and Jay-Jay Helterbrand nailed one three-pointer after another to up the lead back to 15 just before the quarter ended. The Beermen never got closer than 12 after that. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV