Painters down Tigers

(From PBA Online)

Rain or Shine forced a knockout match for the last automatic quarterfinals seat after pulling off a 101-90 demolition of Coca Cola to end its elimination phase with a 9-9 slate.

The Elasto Painters will meet Barangay Ginebra on Friday for the remaining quarterfinal slot.

Rod Nealy had another solid showing for Rain or Shine with 26 points, 17 rebounds and 7 assists to follow up his 41-point explosion in their 113-111 thriller against Air 21 last game.

"The guys played their hearts out. We didn't rely on one guy on this game. It's really a total team effort," said Elasto Painters mentor Caloy Garcia who also got 17 markers from Solomon Mercado.

Gabe Norwood and Ryan Arana each had 13 markers for Rain or Shine while Tyrone Tang contributed 11 off the bench.

The win set up a do-or-die duel with the Kings, who are parading a new import in Chris Daniels.

"Despite losing their last few games, Ginebra is still one of the top teams in the league," said Garcia.

John Williamson led the Tigers with 23 points while Gary David added 16. Asi Taulava contributed 11 points and 18 rebounds for Coke, which was relegated to the wildcard stage against Sta. Lucia Realty.

Coke actually battled back from an 11-point deficit in the first half and even took a 78-77 lead on Williamson's split free throws with 9:48 left.

Neal and Mercado teamed up for a telling 12-2 run for an 89-80 advantage with 6:10 remaining.

The Tigers threatened at 84-89 but Arana, who sank the buzzer beater against the Express, stole a pass for a breakaway lay-up to seal the win for the Painters.

The league moved the playoff matches to Friday in deference to the inauguration of President-elect Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III on Wednesday, June 30. - www.abs-cbnnews.com

Scores:

Rain or Shine 101 � Nealy 26, Mercado 17, Norwood 13, Arana 13, Tang 11, Laure 7, Ibanes 6, Reyes 5, Hrabak 3, Chan 0, Telan 0.

Coca-Cola 90 � Williamson 33, David 16, Cruz 14, Macapagal 12, Taulava 11, Espino 8, Mendoza 6, Allera 0, Rodriguez 0, Lanete 0, Rizada 0, Gonzales 0.

Quarter scores: 28-23, 53-47, 75-77, 101-90.

TIGERS KEEP QF BID ALIVE

(From PBA)

The Coca-Cola Tigers remained on the prowl.

The Tigers roared on, making it three in a row with John Williamson in tow to stay in the running for an outright quarterfinals berth.

Coke finished strong in the second quarter and sustained the heat in the final half for a pivotal 87-76 win over Sta. Lucia Realty in the PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum Friday night.

Williamson and company stayed in equal footing with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at 8-9, both having a chance at catching up with the Barangay Ginebra Kings (9-9)at fifth place at the close of the double-round elimination phase.

Coca-Cola and Rain or Shine clash in a virtual playoff match Sunday also at the Big Dome.

The winner forces a playoff with the Kings for the last automatic slot in the quarters while the loser settles for a spot in the wildcard plays.

“We’ve got a crack at an outright quarters slot on a three-game romp. It would be meaningless if we bungle our game Sunday,” said Coca-Cola coach Bo Perasol.

“Rain or Shine will surely be there fighting so it’s gonna be a battle. We’ll be there going for it,” Perasol added.

Coke’s “Big Four” of Williamson, Gary David, Asi Taulava and Dennis Espino all delivered huge numbers as the Tigers got the key win following an equally important victory by the Elasto Painters earlier in the day.

Victories by both Coca-Cola and Rain or Shine denied Ginebra outright entry into the quarters.

David put in a game-high 22 points with Williamson adding 20 points, Taulava 17 and Espino 16.

The Tigers had a so-so start but picked up their game towards the end of the first half and kept on going in the final 24 minutes of play.

Coca-Coca, which trailed by as many as 10 early on, took the half at 41-35 on a strong closing run capped by back-to-back baskets by Espino.

The Tigers stretched their lead to 14, 64-50, at the end of the third and did a good job holding on to the finish. (SB)

The scores:

Coca-Cola 87 - David 22, Williamson 20, Taulava 17, Espino 16, Cruz 5, Macapagal 3, Gonzales 2, Lanete 2, Allera 0, Bono 0, Rizada 0, Calimag 0, Mendoza 0.

Sta. Lucia 76 - Johnson 21, Escobal 14, Menor 12, Peek 10, Custodio 9, Aljamal 6, Ross 4, Urbiztondo 0, Espinas 0, Omolon 0, Misolas 0, Aquino 0.

Quarters: 17-25, 41-35, 64-50, 87-76

COCA-COLA TRIPS GINEBRA IN NIGHT OF UNDERDOGS

(From PBA)

SUNDAY Salvacion got off what may arguably be the shot of the PBA Fiesta Conference.

Too bad it was not enough to prevent Coca-Cola from pulling off a 96-95 squeaker Sunday that stalled Barangay Ginebra's bid for a lofty goal at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Salvacion's last-second basket proved to be a point short of what the Kings needed, prompting a big sigh of relief from the Tigers after a thorough review by game officials.

Now, Coke made it hassle-free into the wildcard round following its improvement into a 6-9 win-loss slate.

Winning coach Bo Perasol maintains his team was just after improving its game in preparation for the playoffs.

“This is an insignificant win, because our focus is on the process to improve,” claimed Perasol, whose team needed to prevail in any of its last four games to formalize its entry into the wildcard but was placed into an uncertain situation with Barako Energy Coffee's 103-100 win over Sta. Lucia Realty earlier in the evening.

“Kasi, it will be very hard for us to think about sweeping our last four games, so we just concentrated on the process to improve, at saka na lang isipin ang wildcard,” he added.

Ginebra, on the other hand, was bidding for an outright semifinals bid hinged on it winning its last three elims games and both San Miguel Beer and B-Meg Derby Ace not getting to 13 wins.

With their seventh loss in 16 games, the Kings are left hoping they win over Air21 and B-Meg Derby Ace and San Miguel Beer, idle with an 11-4 card, does not get any more victories for the former to join early qualifier Talk N Text as automatic semifinalists.

It's not that Ginebra didn't have its chances Sunday after Asi Taulava's finger roll made it a 95-93 Coke lead, going into the last 49 seconds of play.

But Willie Miller and Mark Caguioa botched their offensive thrusts with a missed triple and an offensive foul, respectively.

After John Williamson's free throw made it a three-point game, Miller launched another trey that proved a tad strong.

Salvacion recovered the rebound, turned around and lofted in his shot. But it turned out it was a mere two-pointer.

Williamson wound up with 24 points and nine rebounds in his debut, with Gary David, Taulava and Mark Macapagal chipping in at least 11 points each. Taulava added a teamhigh 10 rebounds while Macapagal had five steals.

Caguioa paced Ginebra with 24 points, with Miller and Denham Brown making 21 and 20 points, respectively.

Brown also hauled down 16 rebounds, but he scored only eight points in the entire second half and was a non-factor offensively when Coke launched a third quarter assault that wiped out Ginebra's 59-52 lead.

Miller shone most in the fourth quarter with 11 of his points but those still did not prevent the Tigers from taking a 91-87 lead, on Paolo Mendoza's trey, still 2:43 left.

Then Caguioa strung up four straight points that tied it up at 91 and set up the tight finish.

The scores:

Coca-Cola 96 - Williamson 24, David 16, Taulava 15, Macapagal 11, Mendoza 9, Rizada 6, Allera 5, Rodriguez 4, Espino 4, Cruz 2, Gonzales 0, Antonio 0.

Ginebra 95 - Caguioa 24, Miller 21, Brown 20, de Ocampo 10, Villanueva 5, Helterbrand 5,Cortez 3, Hatfield 3, Wilson 2, Salvacion 2, intal 0, Cruz 0, Tubid 0.

Coke Beats Barako Coffee in OT To End Losing Streak

(From PBA)

It took a long time coming, but Coca-Cola and Rashad Bell finally rang one up Sunday evening.

The Tigers needed to scramble back from several 11-point deficits before fully getting their acts together in the last minute of overtime before hurdling Barako Energy Coffee, 105-100 in the PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

Bell was at the forefront of it all, redeeming himself from what could have been a costly miscue in the dying seconds of regulation by scoring six of his game-high 33 points and pulling off a crucial block in the extension that gave Coke the needed boost to snap out of its rut.

“We needed this kind of a win because we fought back from a deficit,” said Coke coach Bo Perasol, whose team has lost seven in a row since winning last on April 14.

“Also, we accomplished a lot in our mindset with this win,” added Perasol. “It was a tough seven-game skid and I myself have been losing confidence in coaching this team. We needed this kind of a win to show we still know how to win.”

For Bell, who replaced James Penny three games into the slide, the win should help them in their quest to go deep in the season-ending tourney.

“I’m just really ecstatic we won this. I’m happy for the guys we were able to get this and we hope to build on this momentum in our remaining games,” said the man who went 10-of-12 from the stripe and also had 11 rebounds.

It was the fifth win in 13 games for the Tigers, moving them into solo seventh-running spot.

The loss was Barako’s 11th in 13 outings, dropping it to a tie for last spot with idle Air21.

The Energy Coffee Masters fought back from 31 points down before narrowly losing a 98-99 decision to the Express last Wednesday and coach Junel Baculi states Sunday’s game compares to that heartbreaking loss.

“This is really bad, considering we led all the way up to the last minute (of regulation),” he said. “Unfortunately, the players made bad decisions in the end, like instead of passing, shooting the ball and instead of shooting, they’re passing. Hopefully we would learn from this and in our last few games apply it.”

Sammy Monroe led Barako with 27 points and 11 boards, but he went scoreless in overtime.

In his first game as a starter, Leo Najorda finished with 24 points, with relievers Reed Juntilla and Mark Isip adding 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Gary David, the conference’s leading local scorer, ably backstopped Bell with 25 points, while Asi Taulava added 12 and a game-high 14 rebounds and Mark Macapagal chipping in 10.

David’s triple capped Coke’s comeback from several 11-point deficits and gave the Tigers a 93-91 edge in the last 38 seconds of regulation.

Monroe’s lean-in floater knotted the count 12 seconds later and overtime was forged when Bell dribbled off his thigh in the last 6.8 seconds and Monroe was way right on his long triple try before the final buzzer.

Juntilla’s back-to-back jumpers gave Barako the upper hand in overtime, but that did not last long as Bell’s short stab and followup sandwiched Taulava’s three-point play off a Bell block on Juntilla that made it a 100-97 game.

Najorda’s triple tied the count for the last time at 100, before a David twinner and charities by Macapagal and Bell off a hoary three-point miss by Rob Wainwright and Al Vergara’s offensive foul sealed the count. (NC)

The scores:

Coca-Cola 105 - Bell 33, David 25, Taulava 12, Macapagal 10, Cruz 8, Espino 6, Allera 3, Gonzales 3, Mendoza 3, Rizada 2, Calimag 0.

Barako Coffee 100 - Monroe 27, Najorda 24, Juntilla 14, Isip 11, Vergara 9, Wainwright 8, Reyes 4, Dimaunahan 3, Duncil 0, Hubalde 0.

Quarterscores: 24-27, 37-48, 62-71, 93-93, 105-100

Llamados Back in Form, Tame Toothless Tigers

(From PBA Online)

Derby Ace put behind its harrowing blowout loss at the hands of Talk `N Text a few days ago with a big 104-91 beating of Coca-Cola Sunday night in the PBA Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Cliff Brown finished with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds, while five others also finished in double digits for the Llamados in a balanced scoring that hardly showed the effects of that 114-89 defeat inflicted on them by the Tropang Texters last Wednesday.

The 25-point rout was the worst for the franchise since an 88-60 loss to Alaska on May 31, 2008 during the Fiesta Cup eliminations.

"It's nice to win especially after that deflating loss to Talk ‘N Text," said Derby Ace coach Ryan Gregorio. "We were able to flex enough muscle despite the injury bug."

James Yap shrugged off a swollen left knee and contributed 14 points off the bench, while Roger Yap led all local scorers with 16, including 3-of-4 from three-point range, and Peter June Simon 15 for the Llamados, who scored their highest output thus far this conference.

The reigning Philippine Cup champion again tied Barangay Ginebra for third place with its seventh win in 11 games.

"Medyo tight `yung tuhod ko, pero kailangan din talagang maglaro," said James Yap, who suffered the injury after colliding with JR Quinahan in their last game against the Tropang Texters.

The loss was another letdown for the skidding Tigers.

Coke (4-8) has now lost seven games in a row and dropped eight of its last nine games despite getting 28 points and 12 rebounds from Rashad Bell and 26 from Gary David.

For a while, the Tigers appeared ready to shed off their losing ways after storming to a 29-18 lead.

But then, the Llamados held the Tigers to just 12 points in the second period, before unleashing a telling run in the third that put them in control of the match.

Brown had six points and Pingris four as the Llamados uncorked a 15-3 blast, turning a two-point deficit to a 54-44 advantage, which they never relinquished.

"We just have to keep on going," said Tigers' coach Bo Perasol. "I told them in the fourth quarter na kung ‘matalo man tayo dito it's not the end of the world. Even if we land in the wild card, we just have to remember that Rain or Shine almost beat the champion last conference (Purefoods)." - JVP/RCJ, GMANews.TV

Scores:

Derby Ace 104 - Brown 18, Yap R. 16, Simon 15, Yap J. 14, Canaleta 12, Pingris 12, Artadi 9, Salvador 4, Reavis 4, Maierhofer 0, Allado 0.

Coke 91 - Bell 28, David 26, Gonzales 11, Espino 10, Taulava 5, Mendoza 5, Cruz 4, Rizada 2, Allera 0, Macapagal 0, Calimag 0, Singson 0.

Quarterscores: 18-29, 39-41, 77-67, 104-91.

Alaska Continues Mastery Over Coke

(From PBA Online)

Alaska continued its mastery over Coca-Cola after posting a 108-98 win Wednesday night in the KFC-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

Cyrus Baguio delivered an almost perfect performance with a conference-high 28 points on 13-of-15 shooting from the floor as the Aces notched their second straight win for a 6-4 mark.

"Cyrus had a big night for us," said Alaska mentor Tim Cone, who was far satisfied from their defensive effort.

"It didn't really go the way I wanted it to. I think we could have made it better defensively. We wanted our team to win with our defense. We have to be able to defend the top offensive teams like Talk ‘N Text and San Miguel if we want to go farther in this conference," he added.

Baguio erupted for 19 points in the first period, hitting his first 9 attempts to help Alaska gain control of the game.

"'Yung unang tira ko, ‘yun ang parang nagbigay ng confidence sa akin," said Baguio. "Medyo sinuwerte kaya I grabbed the chance."
From there, the Aces never relinquished the lead and even led by as much as 14 points late in the fourth quarter.

Diamon Simpson added 18 points while Joe Devance and LA Tenorio contributed 13 points apiece for the Aces, who beat Coke in their first encounter by 1 point on Simpson's buzzer-beater dunk from a perfect inbound pass from Tony dela Cruz.

The Tigers have now lost 7 of their last 8 games to go down deeper in the team standing with a 4-7 slate.

Rashad Bell led Coke with 35 points and 14 rebounds. Gary David added 23 markers while Mark Macapagal chipped in 16. - www.abs-cbnnews.com

Scores:

Alaska 108 - Baguio 28, Simpson 18, De Vance 13, Tenorio 13,
Hugnatan 9, Dela Cruz 8, Borboran 7, Fonacier 6, Thoss 4, Eman 2.

Coca-Cola 98 - Bell 35, David 23, Macapagal 16, Taulava 10, Espino 6, Ross 4, Bono 2, Calimag 2, Allera 0, Cruz 0, Rizada 0, Gonzales 0.

Quarter scores: 28-21, 50-45, 82-74, 108-98.