MANILA, 19 November 2007 — Odd though it may seem, but Welcoat’s newfound brilliance was very evident in the way two powerhouse sides thumped separate foes last night.
Magnolia and Talk ‘N Text, rock-solid squads which Welcoat chopped down to size last week, posted impressive wins to stay tied for second place in the Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum.
“We learned our lesson from that loss to Welcoat,” Phone Pals coach Derrick Pumaren said, just minutes after a 113-88 devastation of Coca-Cola that gave Talk ‘N Text a 5-3 record. “It was an eye-opener for us (losing to the Dragons, 125-126 in overtime last week),” Pumaren added. “That’s why I told the boys that we could never take any team lightly, even if they (Tigers) have a losing streak going.”
Coca-Cola found that losing streak extended to six games after opening up with a win, and the Tigers are now alone being buried deeper in the cellar with two games left in their first round schedule. The Beverage Masters, meanwhile, were like giants awakened by a surprise loss to the Dragons on Friday, taking the best that sister squad and defending champion Barangay Ginebra could offer to prevail, 101-90. Magnolia also rose to 5-3, and more importantly, the Beverage Masters regained the confidence they lost when they wound up with the shorter end of the stick in losing an old-fashioned shootout with the Dragons.
Lordy Tugade, the crafty swingman from Alaminos in Pangasinan, fired a career-high 34 points to lead the Beverage Masters and finally get the usually stoic Siot Tanquingcen to flash a smile inside the press room. “I admit, even as a coach, I enjoyed watching Lordy out there tonight,” Tanquingcen, the Magnolia coach said after Tugade shot 5-of-8 from beyond the three-point arc. Dondon Hontiveros scattered 16 points and starting center Enrico Villanueva chipped in with 14 as Magnolia spoiled Eric Menk’s best game of the season and denied the come-backing Mark Caguioa a first win. Caguioa, in only his second game after missing his team’s first six assignments, was good for 10 points in 28 minutes and Menk, also coming off an injury, shot 22 points and had 11 rebounds in an effort that went down the drain. The Kings also came off a loss, 95-102 to Air21 after getting outscored 21-5 in the last five minutes on Friday. Magnolia won despite committing 23 turnovers, and its shooting percentage practically saved it from absorbing its first back-to-back losses in the tournament. The Beverage Masters shot 50.8% from the two-point zone and 55.6 percent from three-point land mainly because of Tugade. Tugade was most devastating in the final period, when the going got rough as the Gin Kings played with their usual never-say-die style.
Tugade, whose previous scoring high was 31 with Red Bull two seasons ago, had a spectacular three-pointer off the backboard that gave the Beverage Masters an 89-76 bulge with 4:20 left to play. Ginebra came closest at 90-96 on a triple from Ronald Tubid with 1:20 remaining. But Hontiveros had a split, and Tugade capped his performance with a scooping lay-up that hit the front of the rim before rolling in to put the game to bed.
Meanwhile, former San Miguel representative to the board Bert Manlapit was named the seventh nominee for the commissionership.
The retired San Miguel executive got the endorsement from a team that the league did not name as he joined Carlo Singson, Atty. Chito Salud, Patrick Gregorio, Arben Santos, Lambert Ramos and Ricky Palou in the roster. Palou and Santos had actually begged off from joining and the league said that it expects at least one more name to decline within the next couple of days even as the deadline for nominations has been set for Friday.
The PBA expects to name its seventh commissioner on or before Jan. 31 next year.
