MANILA, 10 April 2008 — Coca-Cola will remember this win because of so many things.
Welcoat will have this loss in mind because this one clearly got away.
The Tigers rallied from 18 points down in the second period and from six behind in the final three minutes last night to pound out a 98-96 decision of the Dragons and remain unscathed in the eliminations of the Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Ronjay Enrile dropped the telling three-pointer with 15.4 seconds left for 95-94 and then tapped the ball away from a driving Jay-R Reyes to preserve the win, the Tigers’ third straight in the import-spiced, season-ending tournament.
Welcoat, meanwhile, lost for the third straight time here and 14th overall for the season, but not after the Dragons had a very close brush with their first victory in close to five months.
“I told my players that we need to sacrifice a lot and be committed so that we can be somebody once the day is done,” Coca-Cola coach Binky Favis said after his wards had to battle back from 50-32 down late in the second period.
“Welcoat is a tough team, with two imports and all,” Favis added. “I am just glad that we got lucky in the end.” Coca-Cola pulled off the victory despite electing to sit out George Gervin Jr., the son of the legendary “Iceman” in the NBA who planed in Monday night to take the place of Calvin Cage as small import in the lineup.
Gervin would have been a great addition to the Coca-Cola roster, but Favis opted to rest him for the game and use him instead when the Tigers slug it out with Air21 this Sunday also at the Araneta Coliseum.
“He’s a proven scorer,” Favis said of his import-in-waiting. “But we deemed it best to rest him first and give him time to shake off jet lag and be in tip top shape when he starts playing.” Jason Dixon scored 19 of his 36 points in the final frame to keep the Tigers within striking distance, before that bomb dropped by the 6-foot-2 Buenafe took the fight out of the Dragons.
It was indeed a painful way to lose for Welcoat, which unveiled a new big import in Marquis Gainous and got an inspired performance from small reinforcement Corey Santee and a host of locals.
Gainous was not the big offensive machine that coaching staff had advertised, but his effort were enough to keep the Dragons competitive. He scored 19 of his 23 points in the final two periods as Welcoat had firm grip of the game.
But the Dragons self-destructed when they had to rise to the challenge, as no clear go-to-guy stepped up when the chips were down in the stretch.
Coca-Cola, which is also allowed two imports here after finishing ninth in the Philippine Cup eliminations, held the Dragons to just four points from the final 3:13 on, or when Welcoat had built a 92-86 lead after Gainous drained a short jumper.
Meanwhile, Purefoods gunslinger James Yap topped balloting for the All-Star Game starters with more than 50,000 votes to grab one of the starting guard’s slot in the South team for the annual classic scheduled in Bacolod on April 24-26.
Jimmy Alapag of Talk ‘N Text will start at the point and joining him and Yap are Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia, Danny Seigle of Magnolia and man-mountain Asi Taulava of Coca-Cola. The team will be coached by Boyet Fernandez of Sta. Lucia.
Starting for the North will be Marc Pingris of Magnolia, Kerby Raymundo of Purefoods and Lordy Tugade at the frontcourt and the Barangay Ginebra pair of Mark Caguioa and Jay-Jay Helterbrand at guard.
