Express dumps Phonepals; Tigers win again!

by john geoffrey dacanay

It was a night of upsets and career games. Ex-Ginebra forward Allan Salangsang scored all but two of his career-high 16 points in the fourth quarter to key the Coca Cola Tigers' breakaway over the defending All-Filipino champs Purefoods Chunkee Giants, 92-77, in the 2006 PBA-Talk N Text Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum. Aside from Salangsang, the Tigers also drew some strong games from Jason Misolas (14 points and 10 boards) and rookie Joseph Yeo (13 points), both career-highs.

Chris Pacana had another brilliant game for the Tigers contributing 8 points and 5 assists as a backup to starter Denok Miranda. The Tigers have now won back-to-back games after losing their first two games of the season. The loss spoiled the career-high 18 points of Purefoods' mercurial point guard Paul Artadi. Artadi also grabbed 5 boards, dished off 5 assists and stole twice.

The Tigers led by as much as 14 points in the first half but couldn't pull away from its visibly out-of-sync opponent. The Chunkee Giants finally found its rhythm in the third quarter to pull even at 49-all but a blistering 13-4 run by the Tigers at the end of the third quarter took the starch out of the Giants.

Ali Peek paced the Tigers with 19 points, 8 of those in the fourth quarter to keep Purefoods at bay. Peek also grabbed 8 boards. John Arigo was not able to finish the game after suffering from cramps in the third quarter and wound up with only 8 points, the lowest in the tournament so far for the league's leading scorer (25.7 ppg).

Kerby Raymundo backstopped Artadi with 15 points. Peter June Simon had another great game, finishing with 14 points for the Giants who played without Jun Limpot and Jondan Salvador. 2006 PBA MVP James Yap struggled all game long and could only chip in 10 points. The loss was the Giants third in four games.

In the nightcap, the Air21 Express leaned on the career games of Ranidel de Ocampo, Gary David and Wynne Arboleda to deal the Talk N Text Phonepals its first loss of the season, 127-110, thereby arresting also its three-game losing skid.

Ranidel de Ocampo and Gary David exploded for a career-high 33 and 30 points, respectively, including a combined 24-point output in the fourth quarter to blow the game wide open. Express point guard Wynne Arboleda dished off a career-best 18 assists. Super rookie Arwind Santos only had 12 points but had two emphatic blocks on Asi Taulava. The Express continued to miss the high-flying Nino Canaleta who suffered a broken nose two games ago.

The Phonepals were led by Taulava's 21 points and Don Allado's 18 points. Fil-Am Anthony Washington couldn't get his game going and contributed only a listless 5 point-effort. The loss leaves the Sta. Lucia Realtors as the only unbeaten team in the tourney.

First Game:
Coca-Cola 92 = Peek 19, Salangsang 16, Misolas 14, Yeo 13, Pacana 8, Miranda 8, Arigo 8, Gavino 2, Caceres 2, Raneses 2, Ferreria 0, Antonio 0.
Purefoods 77 = Artadi 18, Raymundo 15, Simon 14, Yap J. 10, Pingris 7, Yee 4, Castillo 4, Bautista 3, Yap R. 2, Evangelista 0.
Quarterscores: 19-19, 41-38, 62-53, 92-77

Second Game:
Air21 127 = de Ocampo R. 33, David 30, de Ocampo Y. 13, Santos 12, Tubid 10, Telan 9, Arboleda 9, Avenido 7, Se 4, Sotto 0, Dimaunahan 0.
Talk n Text 110 = Taulava 21, Allado 18, Ritualo 15, Alapag 13, Carey 12, Cardona 8, Belano 8, Pablo 6, Washington 5, Andaya 4, Fran 0.
Quarterscores: 29-26, 60-all, 91-85, 127-110