MANILA, 13 April 2004 — The Coke Tigers dealt San Miguel Beermen their first loss in the PBA Gran Matador Fiesta Conference with an 88-85 win on Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum.
Mark Sanford, outmuscled and outscored by Art Long in their personal duel, made the plays that decided the match in the end as the Tigers avenged a 73-100 beating at the hands of SMB last March 18 while ending the Beermen’s season-opening hot streak at eight wins.
The reed-thin Sanford jammed an undergoal shot by Danny Ildefonso that could have given the Beermen the lead in the closing seconds then hit the two free throws that left San Miguel no choice but to go for a three-pointer in the final six seconds.
Danny Seigle got a contested crack at the equalizer, but his attempt was off the mark.
Sanford banged in 23 points to go with 15 rebounds as the Tigers won their third straight game to improve to 6-3 (win-loss), but Coke coach Chot Reyes said the victory hardly disturbed the hierarchy in the league, insisting the Beermen “were merely due for a loss.”
Danny Ildefonso, who averages 15 points per game, coughed up eight, shooting three-of-seven from the field. Danny Seigle, who averages 11.7 points per game, finished with eight, making three-of-11. His first basket came at the four-minute mark of the third period. Dondon Hontiveros, an 11.3 ppg-man, was held to two points, shooting one-of-six. Olsen Racela, who averages a shade above 10 per game, scored nine, all in the second half as he tried to trigger the famous San Miguel comeback.
In the second game, Vergel Meneses hit seven clutch points in the fourth quarter as FedEx held off Red Bull for a 103-100 win “the Express” first in two games under new coach Joe Lipa. Meneses came up with an answer for FedEx each time the rallying Barako knocked on the door in the final quarter, none bigger than the turnaround, fallaway jumper he hit off Mick Pennisi with the shotclock running down, 101-98, with 40 seconds left.
