MANILA, 17 December 2007 — These days in the Smart-PBA Philippine Cup, no team would dare meet the rampaging Coca-Cola Tigers.

They’re solid on defense, efficient on offense. Asi Taulava’s been unstoppable on both floors, and the men coming off the bench have been contributing as well.

So, it was so unlucky for cellar-dweller Welcoat to face the hottest team in the season-opening conference.

The Dragons got a heavy dose of the Tigers’ new-found might last night, being held to only four points in the first quarter and never really got a good rally going to absorb their seventh straight defeat, falling to Coca-Cola 86-72.

Only Ryan Arana was able to come up with a field goal in the opening quarter, and Coca-Cola scored 21 points in the stretch to set the tone of the rout as the Tigers booked their fourth consecutive win and fifth overall as against eight losses.

“It was a test of character for us,” said Coca-Cola coach Binky Favis. “It was a test whether we could sustain the momentum of our streak. And we did. We had a good start.” Indeed, no one gave Welcoat a chance after how poor and shameful it performed in the first period. After the Tigers got off to a blazing 21-4 lead, the game was all over. They hiked the gap to its biggest at 29 (55-26) early in the third period, and was able to hold off a mini uprising when Welcoat came to within 79-68 in the fourth period.

“We never panicked,” said Favis of the Dragons’ stand.

As a result, Welcoat became the fifth team in PBA history to be held to only four points in the first quarter. The last time a ball club was limited to such a poor output was in May 22, 2005 when Sta. Lucia was point-starved by Purefoods. It also ended up as a franchise worst for the Dragons.

Taulava again came through with monster numbers. He scored 32 points - 20 coming in the first half that nearly outscored the entire Welcoat team — behind a superb 13-of-17 from the floor that included two rare triples. He also had 18 rebounds. “He’s just amazing,” said Favis of Taulava, the 2003 MVP traded by Talk ‘N Text — his team of eight years — for Ali Peek and next season’s first-round draft pick.

“He gives us intensity, not only in the games but also during practice.” Since Asi arrived, the Tigers are 4-1 (win-loss). The only loss they took was against the Alaska Aces in Taulava’s first game as a Tiger.

Since then, Coca-Cola has been unshakeable, and could now even make it to the quarterfinals outright if the other teams don’t watch out.

Favis, though, isn’t thinking that too far.

“We take it one game at a time, piece by piece,” said Favis. “I don’t want to think about that right now. We just have to play as hard as we can.” Joe De Vance led the Dragons with 26 points and only Jireh Ibanes was able to contribute in double figures (13). Nic Belasco only had seven for Welcoat, which still missed the services of Jay-R Reyes because of a swollen knee.

The Dragons thus dropped to 3-11, and are likely headed for their third straight early elimination. Welcoat has yet to set foot on a wild card stage since joining the league last season. The win enabled the Tigers to tie Air21 at 8th spot, still within reach of earning a berth in the quarterfinal round even if defending champion Ginebra defeated sister-team Magnolia in the main game, 115-100.

Jay-Jay Helterbrand, who missed what could have been the game-winning jumper in the Gin Kings’ 78-79 loss to Sta. Lucia last Dec. 9, was in full attack mode this time, scoring a personal conference-high 35 points.

Ronald Tubid also had a personal conference high, coming up with 27 points and five rebounds as Ginebra’s guards stood at the helm of the team’s offense.

Ginebra earned its sixth win in 14 games for solo seventh spot and exacted revenge on the Beverage Masters, who won the first time both teams met last Nov. 18 (101-90).

Magnolia, one of the teams fancied to make it straight to the Finals, dropped to 7-7, half a game behind Talk ‘N Text.