MANILA, 23 May 2003 — Willie Miller hit a clutch triple from deep left corner to boost Red Bull to a hard-earned 108-104 victory over tenacious Shell on Wednesday night in the Samsung PBA All-Filipino Cup at the PhilSports Arena.

Davonn Harp had a career-high 29 points to go with 13 rebounds, but it was Miller’s shot that enabled the Thunder to end their eliminations campaign with their third straight win.

Miller’s heroics did not end with the three-point shot that lifted Red Bull from a 103-104 bind. He also recovered the loose ball after Harp missed two free throws in the last 2.4 seconds and sank charities off a Tony dela Cruz foul at the buzzer for the final count.

Red Bull’s early finish in the elims meant it would have almost a two-week break before the quarterfinals start on June 4. This nags at Guiao the most.

Harp, whose previous high was 26 points made in Red Bull’s rookie year in 2000, said staying keen despite the long layoff should not pose any difficulty.

The loss was Shell’s second straight, tying it with idle Ginebra going into their decisive game on Sunday. The winner of that match advances to the next round.

Dela Cruz led all scorers with a new career-high 32 points and was instrumental in the Turbo Chargers’ surge to as much a 63-51 lead early in the third period before Harp took over.

Harp scored five straight points and sparked a massive 21-4 charge in which he added six more points as the Thunder took the upperhand at 72-67.

Still, the Turbo Chargers kept hanging on and even managed to wrest back the lead at 102-100 on two points each by Chris Calaguio and dela Cruz.

In the second game, Talk ‘N’ Text sealed a stint in the Asian Invitationals by surviving Purefoods, 105-101, in overtime.

Asi Taulava finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks in a 48-minute display of dominance, but he got a lot of help from two rookies who had career performances. Harvey Carey finished with a personal best 21 points while unheralded freshman Kahi Villa also had a career-high 12 points.

Vic Pablo had 21 points, 16 in the second half, and Jimmy Alapag bucked a bad back brought by a nasty fall to finish with 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists as the Phone Pals held off a spirited game by free agent acquisition Egay Echavez.

The 5-6 Echavez, who was untouched in this year’s annual draft came out with 15 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. He had a spectacular three-point play with 13.8 ticks remaining to tie the game at 94 and force the extra period.

Echavez, together with old hand Alvin Patrimonio, rallied Purefoods in the third period, where the Hotdogs trailed by as many as 12 points.

Taulava, however, knocked in six points there and with the Phone Pals leading by three, 104-101, Echavez threw away a chance to tie the game with an errant lob pass that went out the baseline.

Wednesday night marked the first time in seven years that all four teams that played in a doubleheader breached the 100-point mark. It also marked the first time in franchise history that three Talk ‘N’ Text players scored at least 20 points.

Meanwhile, the PBA is playing it safe regarding Jimwell Torion, Red Bull’s player who had been suspended indefinitely for drug use.Commissioner Noli Eala on Wednesday said they would first have to see the recommendation of the cager’s drug counselor before deciding whether he could rejoin his team and the league.

“We would first see the report by his (Torion’s) counselor. If they recommend he is ‘clean’ enough to re-join his team, then we would readily re-evaluate his suspension,” Eala said.