CEBUANO Jercules Tangkay and Denver Lopez lifted the Welcoat Dragons to a 96-88 victory over San Miguel Beer yesterday in the 2006 Talk N’ Text PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
The victory allowed the PBA neophytes Dragons to pull out from a three-way logjam as they took the solo fifth spot with their 2-2 win-loss slate.
With Brandon Cablay, Danny Seigle and Danny Ildefonoso still on the injury list, the undermanned Beermen struggled for form all throughout in the game as they absorbed their third loss in as many games to join Air21 Express at the bottom.
The Dragons survived a gritty San Miguel offense in the final half as Lopez and the former Southwestern University (SWU) Cobra standout Tangkay unleashed timely three-point bombs that killed the Beermen’s gallant run.
San Miguel kept the game close in the second half as they closed out the third canto behind by just a point, 71-72.
San Miguel managed to grab the lead briefly later on but a drive from Welcoat’s Junjun Cabatu restored the Dragons’ edge, 81-80.
Cabatu’s twinner turned out to be the game’s deciding point as the Dragons floored the gas pedal in the ensuing minutes by unloading a nine-to-nothing blast anchored on Lopez and Tangkay.
Lopez ignited the rally by connecting with a trey and a couple more from Tangkay completed the Dragons’ blitzkrieg that installed a 90-80 Welcoat lead with only five minutes and 27 seconds left in the game.
The Beermen’s coach, Chot Reyes, sued for a time-out to map his offensive plan in the next play and hit paydirt when his troops responded by hitting back-to-back treys to trim Welcoat’s lead to four, 86-90, in the final 1:31.
A costly turnover from Kiko Adriano in the last 1:06 of the game, however, dashed all hopes of the Beermen of coming completely back into the game.
In the main game, Red Bull Barakos defied tremendous odds in whipping the Ginebra Kings, 84-79, to force a standoff between themselves behind the still undefeated leaders. (JAF with PBA Media Bureau)
