GINEBRA ANSWERS WAKE-UP CALL, WALLOPS SMB
Reavis redeems himself with big game as Kings close in at 1-2
Thursday, 15 February 2007
Rafi Reavis finally woke up from deep slumber and asserted his 6-foot-8 frame Wednesday night as the Barangay Ginebra Kings overpowered the San Miguel Beermen, 131-101, in Game Three of the 2006-07 Talk N Text PBA Philippine Cup Finals at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Kings' sleeping giant went to work in the third quarter and hurt the Beermen with his inside presence by repeatedly scoring on putbacks and tip-ins.
His dominating performance boosted his teammates' confidence, especially on the offensive side because they know the big fellow will be there to corner the rebound in case their shot falls short or goes wild.
"Rafi redeemed himself tonight. That's the kind of game he's supposed to play," said Ginebra coach Jong Uichico afterwards.
Reavis finished the night with 13 points and 15 boards – a big leap from his 7.0 points and 8.5 rebounds average in the first two games of the series.
Reavis was at his deadliest form in the third, when he banged in 13 points and grabbed 10 boards as the Kings stretched their one-point halftime lead to 18 points at the end of the period.
The Beermen never bounced back from that point onwards.
"I think the players were challenged. We're in a foxhole and we want to get out of it. Besides, this team knows how to bounce back when their backs are against the wall. And tonight they just played the way they should," Uichico said.
"I guess we shot pretty well tonight. I hope we could sustain this."
Rudy Hatfield scored 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting and Mark Caguioa had 26 on 11-of-21 shooting to show the way for the Kings, who shot 47 percent from the field compared to the Beermen's 39 percent.
Ronald Tubid came off the bench and contributed 19 points, Jayjay Helterbrand had 14 and Eric Menk added 12 points and 11 boards as Ginebra outrebounded SMB, 58-47.
And now, the Kings, who looked all but history after being completely dominated by the Beermen in Games 1 and 2, are back in the game and enjoy momentum going into Friday's Game 4,
The turnaround was a complete surprise.
The Beermen showed no indication that they were going to fall flat after two dominating performances. In fact they were doing pretty well in the opening quarter and led by as many as 10 points behind the hot hands of Danny Seigle, who led their offensive with 26 points.
San Miguel was still going great guns midway in the second quarter but by the time they reached the five-minute mark, the Beermen started missing their shots, and became sloppy on defense.
Sensing something was wrong with their foes, the Kings stepped on the gas and slowly wore out the Beermen. (DBC)
The scores:
Ginebra 131 - Hatfield 28, Caguioa 26, Tubid 19, Helterbrand 14, Reavis 13, Menk 12, Ssalvacion 9, Abarrientos 6, Holper 2, Mamaril 2, Macapagal 0.
San Miguel 101 - Seigle 26, Tugade 25, Wilson 10, Racela 10, Tenorio 8, Calaguio 8, Pena 7, Hontiveros 5, Adducul 2, Espinas 0, Gonzales 0.
Quarters: 23-26, 56-55, 99-81, 131-101.
Re: SAN MIGUEL BEER... fans
Originally Posted by yelkrebb
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