Source: John Arigo: d' Arsenal's Official FanSite
The Coca-Cola Tigers had their breakout game in the 2006-07 PBA campaign Friday, roaring back from a sorry upset the last time out with an upset of their own.
Little changes in their roster seemed to make a big difference for the Tigers who nailed their first win in the Talk n Text PBA Philippine Cup with a king-sized 105-86 reversal of the favored Red Bull side at the Cuneta Astrodome. Chris Pacana and Mike Gavino both made an impact in their debut in the pros, helping the Tigers redeem themselves from a 75-85 loss to the Welcoat Dragons Sunday.
The Tigers bowed to the Alaska Aces in their maiden game in the season last October 4.
Coca-Cola handled Red Bull so well that the Tigers led by as many as 20 points before eventually handing the Barakos their first loss in three starts.
"Mike Gavino helped us on the boards and Chris Pacana helped set control. But the real key was that everybody was willing to fight. Everybody was willing to give five minutes, six minutes or whatever minutes of hard work," said Coca-Cola coach Binky Favis.
"We also got lucky our shots fell. Part of the luck was that Red Bull was a bit off," Favis added.
Doing well with his current lineup is no guarantee though that Favis will play the rest of the tourney with the same group.
"We’re in the process of rotating our guys. We want to see how well everybody plays in certain situations. It’s part of our measurement how long they could stay," Favis explained.
Pacana and Gavino, who took over from fellow rookies Ronjay Enrile and RJ Rizada, acquitted themselves well with the Tigers in their first official game in the pros. Pacana contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes while Gavino chipped in six points and the same number of rebounds in 20 minutes.
John Arigo scattered 27 points while Ali Peek had a double-double game with 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Tigers, who drew career-high 12 points each from top rookie Joseph Yeo and sophomore Neil Raneses.
The Barakos were obviously frustrated with their performance with Junthy Valenzuela being banished from the game on a couple of flagrant fouls. Enrico Villanueva had his own flagrant infraction curiously committed against old rival Joseph Yeo.
Valenzuela will automatically serve a one-game suspension as a result of his ejection.
Drawing significant numbers from Pacana right at the start, Coca-Cola took command early and sat on a nine-point cushion, 54-45, at halftime.
The Tigers had earlier nine-point spreads but lost these as they ran into a maze of errors while being pressed by the Barakos midway through the second quarter.
The Barakos had to lean on defense to stay in the thick of the battle as they faltered on the other end of the court in the first 24 minutes of play.
Shock trooper Carlo Sharma paced Red Bull with eight points in the opening half where the whole team shot only 38.5 percent from the field. The Tigers, on the other hand, hit at a 42.5-percent clip.
The Tigers also did better in the battle off the boards, 33-27. (NC)
Source: pba.ph
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