MANILA: Revenge is best served cold.
Jay Washington burned his former team right in their first meeting last night, shooting 21 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in leading San Miguel past Talk ‘N Text, 84-77, for the Beermen’s third straight win in the Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum. “They shouldn’t have given me up,” the 6-foot-7 forward told reporters moments after his monster effort, referring to the trade that sent him to San Miguel before the season started after reported differences with coach Chot Reyes. “He played well and it came naturally,” said San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen. “I could see the fire in his eyes, even during the practices leading up to this game.”
The Beermen thus wrested solo third place with a 3-1 record while dealing the Tropang Texters a second straight loss in a 2-2 card.
“It feels good to win three straight games,” Tanquingcen added. “But I have to insist that it’s a long season and we still have to work on a lot of things to be where we want to be in the end, and that is to win a championship.”
And the addition of Washington to the already formidable roster has certainly boosted the Beermen’s stock no end as San Miguel became the biggest and arguably the most agile team in the field.
Proof of this was how bad the Beermen outrebounded the Texters as Mick Pennisi and Dorian Pena collected a combined 27 boards even as San Miguel’s swingmen also contributed heavily on the offensive end. Rookie Bonbon Custodio, the former UE ace seen by many as the steal of the Draft, had 10 points, and Dondon Hontiveros added 11 as the Beermen broke open a close contest with another swashbuckling finish. The latest San Miguel win was very reminiscent of the two that came before it, when the Beermen lost formidable leads but steadied themselves when it mattered to win with plenty to spare.
And last night was no different as a strong start aided by a flat opening bid by Talk ‘N Text put the Beermen in control, with the Texters not getting into the thick of the fight until late in the third quarter, which ended at 68-all.
But Washington scored on two straight baskets that ended a nip-and-tuck game for 82-76 heading into the final 50 seconds.
“I was really aching to win, facing my former team and all,” Washington said. While the San Miguel streak continued, Air21’s bad slide finally ended in the first game after the Express played sterling defense in the fourth quarter to milk Coca-Cola dry for a 95-84 win in the first game.
It was the first victory in four outings for the Express, who got 25 points from superstar swingman Arwind Santos and who played great team defense in the final seven minutes for what could be considered as an upset.
Air21 held the Tigers to just two field goals in the final 7:11 as Coca-Cola lost for the third time in four games after failing to recover from a marathon double-overtime victory over Purefoods last week.
“It took three games for us to get a wake up call,” said Air21 coach Bo Perasol. “I think it was a case of a hangover of sorts, when we played in a championship series for the first time (in the Fiesta Cup won by Barangay Ginebra).
“In their (his players’) minds, I think they thought that this (tournament) was going to be easy.”
Santos shot 9-for-20 from the field and had two of his three blocks against Asi Taulava, and Gary David went on to finish with 15 points for the Express.
Former RP team member Ranidel de Ocampo finished with a a fourth straight double-double, counting Game 7 of the Fiesta Finals after shooting 19 points and collecting 16 rebounds, and Wynne Arboleda and Doug Kramer combined for 21 points for Air21.
Nic Belasco paced Coke with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Taulava submitted 16 points and 16 rebounds in a pair of monster efforts that went to naught when the team struggled to score in the stretch.
“Not to take anything from my players, but I think Coca-Cola’s double-overtime win last Wednesday was also a factor. You can really see that they were really tired,” said Perasol.
