MANILA, 20 May 2003 — Behind Jeffrey Cariaso’s successful quest for a personal milestone and a desire to earn some amount of payback, the Tigers beat Alaska, 90-87, in the final stages of the Samsung-PBA All-Filipino Cup eliminations on Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum.
Cariaso, a nine-year veteran, finished with 20 points, his sixth point with 49.4 seconds left in the first quarter making him the 49th player to reach the 5,0000-point plateau.
The 1995 Rookie of the Year went 6-of-6 from the stripe and had a crucial assist inside the final two minutes in boosting the Tigers’ bid of making it outright to the Asian Invitational Championship. Only the top five teams after the eliminations are seeded to the next conference.
Coca-Cola improved to 9-7 (win-loss) and dealt the Aces, who won the first meeting between the two ballclubs, 86-77, on March 30, also at the Big Dome, their first six-game losing skid in more than a decade.
Alaska is now 8-9.
Cariaso scored six of the last 12 points of Coca-Cola from a 78-all count in the last three minutes, including two freebies off Don Allado after hauling down the rebound off a miss by Allado that gave the Tigers a 90-87 lead with only 3.4 seconds remaining. Brandon Cablay tried to force an overtime with a running three-pointer which hit the glass but was spat out by the basket at the buzzer.
In the second game, Wynne Arboleda hit a clutch runner with 5.5 seconds remaining and the Express defense held off Paolo Mendoza’s last second shot for a 76-75 victory over Sta. Lucia.
It was the second straight one-point win for FedEx, which, for the second straight time, carried another team along with it to its destination. FedEx had earlier beaten Purefoods, 77-76 to get into the quarterfinals, towing with it Alaska, Sta. Lucia and San Miguel. The win brought the Express to the Asian Invitationals outright and FedEx had San Miguel tagging along with it freely.
The Realtors fell to 8-9.
Meanwhile, the PBA drumbeat its three-day, All-Star celebration starting on May 30 by presenting some of the stars in the much-awaited Crispa-Toyota Legends Game at the Big Dome.
Players from the two PBA pioneers expressed their gratitude to commissioner Noli Eala for giving them the chance to show the current fans their brand of play during the league’s formative years.
Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Freddie Hubalde, Mon Cruz, Romulo Mamaril and Dave Brodett were present for the Redmanizers while the Tamaraws paraded Oscar Rocha, Rolly Marcelo, Tino Reynoso, Orly Bauzon, Ed Camus and Gil Cortez. “Without Toyota, there won’t be Crispa. The rivalry of these two teams helped make the PBA what it is today,” said Co who expressed his desire to match up against Toyota’s Sonny Jaworski, now a Senator, on May 30.
