San Juan waited for this moment of ending the perfecto of erstwhile unbeaten Biñan and the Kings made sure it will happen in front of their home crowd.
The Kings put the clamps down on the Marc Pingris-less Tatak Gel on their way to scoring a thrilling 78-74 win in the PSL President’s Cup at the Filoil-EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
San Juan made its presence felt on the defensive end in the third period, holding Biñan to just one field goal in a seven-minute stretch as the Kings created separation.
The Kings led by as many as 16 points, 61-45, in the 3:05 mark, behind a 16-3 run with former Philippine Basketball Association player Dexter Maiquez waxing hot from beyond the arc.
Maiquez finished with 19 points, including four three-point shots.
“We concentrated on our preparation, our scouting, yung mga details sa game kaya nakuha namin yung panalo,” said Maiquez.
Nikko Panganiban, one of the up and coming guards of San Juan, shared the veteran big man’s observation.
“Short preparation lang, pero talagang pinaghandaan namin sila for three days,” added Panganiban.
But just when the Kings were about to put away Tatak Gel, Biñan gave San Juan a dose of its own medicine on defense in the fourth period.
Trailing 58-71 with still 6:03 left, Biñan held San Juan to just a lone field goal in a four-mnute span, resulting to a 10-2 run as KG Canaleta, Tyrone Chan and Kenny Rocacurva combined forces to shove Tatak Gel within five, 68-73.
The closest Tatak Gel could come was within two, 74-76, off a Canaleta lay up with still 35 seconds left and Biñan had one last chance of equalizing the count, but Jayjay Helterbrand missed a runner, allowing San Juan to make it a two-possession game.
Michael Calisaan split his charities, but after missing his second free throw in the last three seconds, Mike Malonzo was there to snatch the offensive rebound and the young player came up with his own split to seal the game for San Juan, which now vaulted on top with a 14-1 win-loss mark after dealing Tatak Gel their first ever loss in 14 games.
