MANILA: There’s no doubt that Ronjay Buenafe is the missing link for Coca-Cola.
Buenafe announced his return in a big way last night, shooting 14 of his 18 points in the fourth period to lead the Tigers to a 93-72 victory over Purefoods that arrested a three-game slide in the Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
All of those three losses came with Buenafe in the sidelines because of an injury, and the 6-foot-2 gunslinger made that a more obvious fact by pacing the Tigers to just their fourth win in 11 games.
“Ronjay is really plays a big role in this team,” said interim coach Kenneth Duremdes of his sophomore guard, who shot 5-of-10 from the field and was flawless from the free throw line (6-of-6). “But the win was also a result of the good defense we played.” Coca-Cola made life terrible for Purefoods, which took its worst loss in the tournament and slumped to a 5-7 record with its second straight loss. In the second game, Nino Canaleta scored 20 points and Ranidel de Ocampo had a crucial basket in the stretch that lifted Air21 to a 92-89 decision of Red Bull.
Canaleta also had 11 rebounds like De Ocampo, who hit a short jumper with 46 seconds left as the Express rolled to their third straight to climb to 6-5 overall.
Red Bull has now lost a tournament-worst fifth straight game and, coupled with the Coca-Cola win, is now alone in the cellar at 3-8. “Before the game, I told the players that if we are going to come into the game with only a 90 percent determination, we are going to lose,” said Air21 coach Bo Perasol. “Red Bull, despite its lineup, is such a tough team to beat.”
Nic Belasco added 14 points for Coca-Cola, and three others contributed in twin digits, including a double-double from Asi Taulava, who hit for 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. James Yap, Enrico Villanueva and Kerby Raymundo all had 15 points, but the Giants obviously were hurt by the absences of PJ Simon (MCL injury) and Roger Yap (knee contusion).
Yap also played under the weather after a mysterious viral infection hit the team earlier in the week. Aaron Aban and Paolo Bugia also played with running noses and slight coughs.
Coca-Cola trailed early, 12-2, but gathered its poise just as quick to even take the half at 39-33 and never trail from there. “The last time we lost (against Air21), we gave up 37 points in the first quarter alone,” said Duremdes. “Tonight, we held Purefoods to 33 points in the first half. So that alone tells you how hard we worked on our defensive game plans. “It just showed that we can play defense if we put our minds to it.” So potent was Coca-Cola’s defense that it held Purefoods to only two fast break points, a rather unusually low number for a team that once ruled this tournament two seasons ago and a finalist in the last Philippine Cup.
