Saturday, October 20, 2007 Coca-Cola tames Welcoat Dragons
MANILA - The Coca-Cola Tigers spoiled the debut of top pick Joe Devance as they carved an 85-76 win over the Welcoat Dragons last night in the 33rd Smart-PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Saddled by the injury of key player Alex Cabagnot, the multi-titled Tigers turned to Ronjay Buenafe and Ronjay Enrile for the needed backcourt mastery that enabled them to outmanuever the big men of the Dragons.
"Talking of big men. Our problem really at the start is how our 6'4's can outrebound their 6'7s. Thanks to John Arigo, who just came from injury but was able to step-up in the game," said Coca-Cola mentor Benky Favis.
Favis said that Alex Cabagnot severly injured his left ankle during practice but he expected him to be back next week.
Winning form
"We are hoping, he can be around next week. We just hope, we can continue with our winning form. We underwent a major build-up and I hope, it will pay off," added Favis.
Even as a lot are expecting the 6'7 Devance, the top pick in the 2007 Rookie Draft, to lead the Dragons, he was fielded only for about five minutes, scoring only 3 points and one assist.
The Dragons started strong as they took a big 41-22 early lead, courtesy of Nic Belasco, who connected four triples and one each from Joe Devance, Ryan Arana and Denver Lopez.
The 6'7 Davance came in only midway in the second quarter but a few minutes after he recieved a pass from Belasco he scored a triple on top of the key, widening Welcoat's advantage, 39-22, still 4:30 remaining before the half.
But rookie Ryan Buenafe came in and scored 7 straight points, the last on a triple that triggered a blazing 10-0 run and cut down The Tigers deficit to only 11 points, 30-41, some 2:10 left in the second quarter.
Losing steam
John Arigo continued Buenafe's spirited play and scored 7 points of his own, capped by a triple that reduced the gap to only six points, 37-43, at the end of the half.
After the Tigers regained the upperhand early in the third period, they never reliquinshed the lead as the Dragons lost steam and missed badly in the perimeter, allowing Coca-Cola to completely control the match until the buzzer.
Arigo topscored for the Tigers with 26 points, three from the stripes, on top of 7 rebounds and one steal, while Buenafe finished with 16 points, Mark Telan added 12 and 8 points each for Ronjay Enrile and Ali Peek.
The 6'6 Nic Belasco was Welcoat's highest scorer with 22 followed by Jay-ARR Reyes with 14 and 8 for Jireh Ibanez. (FCC)
