Ginebra levels title series

Ginebra drew strength from Jay Jay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa’s exploits in the fourth quarter then pounced on San Miguel Beer’s atrocious shooting from the field to fashion out an 80-64 victory last night and level their best-of-seven series for the PBA All Filipino Cup crown at two games apiece.

Helterbrand came off the bench for Bal David and led the Gin Kings’ torrid run in the final quarter, firing 11 points in that stretch, including two triples, while Caguioa dished out a couple of spectacular assists while tossing in four points that sustained the attack that took the fight out of the Beermen.

The victory, watched by a big Sunday crowd at the Araneta Coliseum, came on the heels of Ginebra’s close 82-80 win last Friday and it brought the series, which San Miguel dominated in the first two games, back to where it started last week.

"We caught San Miguel Beer off-night. I’m happy that our adjustment in defense worked out," said Ginebra coach Allan Caidic, after his wards turned what had been a see-saw game into a ghastly rout.

Danny Seigle, the prolific San Miguel scorer, typified the Beermen’s dismal shooting as he finished with a forgettable 2-of-24 from the field, missing all his four tries from the long range in the fourth quarter, which the Gin Kings translated into a series of baskets to pull away.

The Gin Kings blew a 12-point lead in the first period, fought back to engage the Beermen in a neck-and-neck duel in the next two quarters before seizing a one-point lead at the onset of the fourth.

They braced for another thrilling finish like in Game Three but after Jun Limpot scored on back-to-back baskets and Helterbrand completed a three-point play off Boyvits Victoria on a Caguioa assist, the crowd favorites were headed for an explosive finish.

Another Caguioa assist set Ronald Magtulis for a twinner before the blonde-haired Fil-Am knocked in a top-of-the-key jumper to spark another 11-4 run that gave the Gin Kings a 72-58 lead, 4:30 remaining in the contest.

The Beermen never recovered from that big Ginebra blitz and as Seigle continued to fire blanks, his woes were compounded by his teammates failure to step up, enabling the Gin Kings to put the game beyond recall at 76-61, 1:30 remaining in the game.

Meanwhile Ildefonso could well become only the third player after Bogs Adornado and Alvin Patrimonio to win successive PBA Most Valuable Player titles at season’s end.

Ildefonso, the 2000 season MVP, got a big headstart in the fight for the award this year as he emerged the Best Player of the PBA All-Filipino Cup last night.

The 6-foot-6 former King NU Bulldog in the UAAP won the award over teammate Dan Seigle, Pop Cola’s Rudy Hatfield, Shell’s Chris Jackson and Ginebra’s Jun Limpot.