Caguioa, Tenorio spark Ginebra’s rout of GlobalPort
Mark Caguioa and LA Tenorio came out of their shells, holding their own against Globalport’s highly touted guards as the Barangay Ginebra Kings stretched their winning streak to three games with an 85-70 spanking of the Batang Pier at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.
Caguioa and Tenorio produced personal season-best numbers, striking hardest in the Gin Kings’ decisive charge in the second half that got the team above .500 mark in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup with a 4-3 win-loss card.
Greg Slaughter was at his usual dominant form as Ginebra made the Top Six while relegating Globalport to joint seventh with Barako Bull at 3-3.
Slaughter, the leading BPC contender midway through the tourney, once again piled up huge double-double numbers with 22 points and 21 rebounds.
Caguioa and Tenorio delivered 22 and 18 markers, respectively, while also doing a good job on the defensive end versus Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle.
“It’s easier for them because they have Greg (Slaughter), Japeth (Aguilar) and Jervy (Cruz) behind their back. It’s great defensive effort overall. It’s a first real good one we’ve got,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
“That’s a team that is going to be a beast. I’m glad we got them early and played them now,” Cone also said.
The Gin Kings did play good “D,” most especially on Pringle (13 points) and Romeo (10) whom they held way below their averages.
Ginebra got going on both ends in the second half, enabling the team to shake off a tough challenge by the Batang Pier led by Jay Washington with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Cone made special mention of Caguioa and Tenorio.
Before the game, Caguioa and Tenorio averaged only 7.1 and 6.5 points, respectively.
Earlier, Globalport made an 18-point turnaround in the first half while holding the Ginebra bench down to three points.
The Batang Pier fell behind by 12, 7-19, in the early goings and still trailed by 10, 13-23, at the start of the second quarter before mounting a chase to seize the lead, 41-36, at the turn.
The Gin Kings yielded control in the second period with their reserves making only three points courtesy of Cruz and Jayjay Helterbrand.
Globalport, on the other hand, drew 13 markers from their second group.
But then the whole Ginebra team sprang back to life in the final half.
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