MANILA, 9 June 2007 — Put in basically the same spot to win a game for Coca-Cola in only his second outing, Rashad Bell made sure this one didn’t slip away.
Locked in a heated shooting duel with James Yap all night long, Bell won out in the offensive battle and did a lot of extras on the other end to lead the Tigers past Purefoods, 100-97, and into the final stage of the PBA Fiesta Cup’s wildcard phase.
Bell scored a season-high 45 points, 13 of them coming in the wild and wooly fourth period, before he botched up the potential game-tying Purefoods play that allowed the Tigers to live another day and gain a shot at the quarterfinals.
The Tigers next face San Miguel in another KO game tomorrow after the Beermen started out hot, blew cold for a time, but then poured it all in the final 15 minutes to eliminate the under-achieving Sta. Lucia Realtors, 102-85, in the first game.
Bell’s performance last night was one to marvel at, as he worked himself silly in carrying the Tigers before polishing off the Tender Juicy Giants with a key triple with 40.8 left and that defensive gem.
And the way he played the stretch was a far cry from the way he debuted, when he elected to take a floating running jumper in the dying seconds of a 105-103 loss to Red Bull last week instead of taking it hard to the hoop.
“Yes, we talked about that shot,” Coca-Cola coach Binky Favis said. “And he responded in a big way. He’s like a sponge, absorbing everything I tell him. We’re lucky to have him as an import.” It wasn’t only the import who did well for Favis, but the entire team as well. The Tigers committed a franchise-low six errors.
Bell scored 10 of his total inside the final 5:24, with that triple giving the Tigers a 97-93 before he came up with two free throws in the final 12.1 to eventually round out scoring.And if contributing heavily wasn’t enough, Bell knocked the ball out of the hands of Yap in the final Purefoods play, forcing the reigning MVP to scamper for a shot that didn’t even come close to connecting.It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Giants, who led by seven near the halfway mark of the fourth. It was also particularly galling for Yap, who finished with 40 points, just one short of his career-high chalked up on Wednesday. Yap also had a crucial blunder, when he split his free throws off Ricky Calimag with 14.5 seconds left for 97-98 that gave the Giants no choice but to foul Bell for those clinching charities.
“We couldn’t find a way to stop James,” Favis added.
“I guess we were also lucky because he (Yap) started missing in the end.” “We still need to get another win,” said coach Siot Tanquingcen, now 11-6 since taking over the Beermen three losses into the tournament. “We still can’t celebrate because there’s another game to win - against a surely tough team at that.” San Miguel closed out the first period with a 22-10 lead, allowed the Realtors to close to within one before breaking the game wide open in a span that bridged the third and fourth periods to win pulling away.
Chris Calaguio hit a triple to open up the fourth, and Danny Ildefonso a layup after that as the Beermen bloated a 65-53 lead to 70-53 to cruise the rest of the way and get to live another day.
Ildefonso wound up with 19 points to lead all San Miguel shooters, while Calaguio chipped in with 12 - all coming from beyond the three-point area - as a total of five players scored in twin digits for Tanquingcen.
The two-time MVP Ildefonso actually hit 13 of his total in the first two periods before Enrico Villanueva, who was acquired in a controversial trade with Red Bull, hit 10 of his 12 in the final frame.
The Realtors closed out their season with another losing record, 18-28, despite having the best rookie in the field in Kelly Williams and some of the highest priced players in the league.
Since last season, Sta. Lucia has gone 30-53.Jamaal Williams paced the Realtors with 25 points while his namesake Kelly chipped in with 22. But the inability of their teammates to provide solid help told in this game - as in the other losses before this — with only Nelbert Omolon scoring in twin digits with 11.
