MANILA — Entering Friday night, Mark Caguioa needed just 16 points to become the latest member of the elite 10,000 Points Club in the Philippine Basketball Association.
He did just exactly that.
Ginebra’s heart and soul during the 2000s did just enough to enter the elite scoring list as the team mauled NLEX, 106-92, in the 2018 Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Caguioa scored 16 markers on 7-of-13 shooting to become the 16th player to breach the 10,000-point mark — the 15th among locals and the second among active players after good friend James Yap of Rain Or Shine, who achieved the feat on July 29, 2017.
The bulk of Caguioa’s vintage scoring barrage came in the crucial third quarter where the Barangay pulled away.
Ginebra outscored NLEX, 40-24, in the period with Caguioa accounting for nine of Ginebra’s 40 markers.
Caguioa’s breakthrough came with 1:10 left in the game that already had a foregone conclusion when he shot a right elbow jumper off an assist from Scottie Thompson.
Justin Brownlee made 26 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, one steal, and two blocks to lead Ginebra, who broke away from a three-way tie with Magnolia and Blackwater, 94-91 winner over Meralco in the first game, and is now solely at number one in the team standings at 6-1.
Larry Fonacier tallied 21 markers for NLEX, which fell to 4-3.