MANILA, 25 May 2004 — Mark Sanford, although injured, Mark Sanford tried to rally his team to victory. Too bad his fighting spirit didn’t rub off on the rest of the Coca-Cola team.

This was evident in the way Alaska manhandled Sanford and his teammates 96-76 on Saturday to stay in the hunt for an outright quarterfinal seat in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Galen Young had a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds and Ali Peek dished off a monster game with 22 and 18 as the Aces racked up the points when it mattered most in a game that was supposed to go down the wire. The Tigers, however, failed to sink at least half their free throws, making just 14 of 29 tries. They also failed to come up with a consistent take-charge guy in lieu of Sanford who has a hyper-extended right knee and a contusion on his left.

He shouldn’t have been playing at all, but ultimately convinced Coca-Cola coach Chot Reyes, who was set to tap USBL and NBDL veteran Tate Decker, to let him continue playing.

Sanford still wound up with 20 points, but was visibly outplayed by Young in the game’s most crucial times and spent four minutes on the bench in the fourth quarter when Alaska started breaking the game wide open. The win, which avenged Alaska’s 86-83 loss the first time they met, snapped the Aces’ three-game losing skein and improved their win-loss record to 10-7 overall.

Another win over Ginebra in their last outing will assure the Aces at least a tie for the second quarterfinals berth alongside early qualifier San Miguel Beer. Despite the loss, Coca-Cola’s sixth in 16 games, it remained in second at 10-6, with Talk N’ Text and Shell still standing in the Tigers’ way. Four points by Sanford and as many by Jeffrey Cariaso whittled Alaska’s lead, which stood at 58-43 early in the third, to just 71-65, still 10:59 left in the game.

In the second game, Red Bull Barako likewise kept its own hopes for the No. 2 slot alive by edging a stubborn Purefoods TJ Hotdogs side in a marathon 141-138 triple overtime win, its 10th in 17 games.

It was the league’s first triple overtime game since Sta. Lucia outlasted San Miguel Beer, 135-129, on Nov. 9, 1993. It also tied the league record in most number of players that fouled out in a game with nine while the Thunder registered the fourth all-time most free-throws attempted with 62.

Game officials called a combined total of 94 fouls that translated to 117 free throws, 82 of which were converted.

Joe Zaletel paced the Hotdogs with 37 markers but he was too spent a player in after 53 minutes on the court that his three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the ring. Had it gone in, it would have forged a fourth OT, which would have been a first in the league’s 30-year history.

It was Purefoods’ 13th defeat against four wins to sink at the bottom of the team standings behind FedEx’s 4-12 (win-loss) slate.

Meanwhile, Talk N’ Text’s campaign for an outright quarterfinals berth in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Cup takes a crucial turn as it battles crowd darling Barangay Ginebra at the Araneta Coliseum.

At 9-7, the Pals are looking to sweep their remaining games in the eliminations that concludes with a date opposite Coca-Cola Tigers today. By getting the job done, the Pals are assured of earning a playoff for the second automatic quarterfinal slot.

San Miguel (14-2) already clinched the first berth in the quarters. Ginebra (7-9) lost its last match against Red Bull, 98-101, and saw its bid for the nos. 3 and 4 spots that carried a twice-to-beat incentive dimmed a bit.

But the Kings are aching to get even with the Pals, to whom they lost a heartbreaker, 89-91, during their first meeting this conference.