MANILA, 22 January 2008 — Asi Taulava continues to laugh. Taulava scored 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and nailed two gut-wrenching charities in the stretch on Sunday night as Coca-Cola led early and held off Air21, 109-102, to barge into the quarterfinals of the Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The 6-foot-10 man-mountain scored eight of his total in the payoff frame as the Tigers won a second straight knockout game to earn the right to face No. 3 seed Alaska in the quarterfinals starting tomorrow.
Red Bull and struggling powerhouse Magnolia are paired in the other quarterfinal series.
Coca-Cola won for the eighth time in 12 games since trading for Taulava for Ali Peek, a celebrated deal that the center was very vocal with and he did not hide his displeasure toward the team he played for in his first 10 years. And after hitting for 13 points and plucking down 17 rebounds in eliminating his former teammates on Friday, Taulava is still wearing a smile.
“We’re still playing and they (Phone Pals) are not,” Taulava told Arab News later.
John Arigo scored 15 of his 23 points in the second period when the Tigers broke away as several 21-point spreads, the last at 47-26 after Arigo rifled in a trey on the run, proved too much for the Express to overcome. Arigo, who is slowly but surely getting back into the groove after a right elbow injury greatly hampered his performance, also had eight points in the fourth period.
After starting out 1-7 and making that trade to get Taulava, the Tigers now stayed in the hunt toward winning a first title under the new foreign management that bought their franchise from the San Miguel group last year. Arigo hit three consecutive treys at the height of the Coca-Cola breakaway, his third finished off a transition play from top of the key for that 21-point lead.
He missed just one of six attempts in that period in leading the Tigers to a 33-point output.
And the Tigers used that imposing lead to thwart repeated rallies by the Express, who got this far by eliminating defending champions Barangay Ginebra also Wednesday night. Air21 came to within four points, 95-99, after a Wynne Arboleda triple, but that was the closest the Express could come to as Taulava hit a pair of charities that finished off Air21 and sealed the Tigers’ advance.
Mark Clemence Telan shot 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and starting guard Alex Cabagnot was good for 10 markers and nine assists. Two other chipped in twin digit scores for Favis. Nino Canaleta led the Express with 21 points and Arwind Santos chipped in with 12 and 14 rebounds.
The Air21 loss could prove to be a double whammy for forward Arwind Santos, the former Far Eastern ace in the UAAP who led everyone in the statistical points race after the elimination round.
Santos figured prominently in five key statistical departments to be the leading Best Player of the Conference bet, but all of his efforts could go for naught with the departure of the Express since he cannot be assured of a Top 5 slot with the ouster of his team. The Air21 forward averaged 20.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.3 blocks in 18 games for Air21 in the first round for a 37.7-SP average.
Running second is reigning Most Valuable Player Willie Miller of Alaska with 36.4 points, with Williams running third at 36.2 and Asi Taulava of Coca-Cola in fourth with 35.7 points in 20 games.
Rounding out the top 5 was Purefoods cornerstone Kerby Raymundo, who averaged 14.8 points, 10.8 boards and 3.7 assists.
