Monday, July 21, 2008 Magnolia routs Air21, 113-87
MANILA - The Magnolia Beverage needed a blistering rally in the final half before pulling off a 113-87 rout over the import-less Air 21 yesterday to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven semifinal round of the 2008 Smart-PBA Fiesta Conference at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Without the 6-foot-9 Steven Thomas, who is only scheduled to arrive today, the 6-foot-10 Amar McCaskill wrought havoc to the Express defense, firing 34 points on top of 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals to lead the Beverage Masters’ first ever win over the Express in this conference.
McCaskill’s feisty game sent all the big men of the Express into early foul trouble including Ranidel de Ocampo, who fouled out with still 6:41 left in the match.
Coach Siot Tanquincent expressed elation over their early lead in the long series as records show that 44 of 67 teams that took a 1-0 lead in a best-of-7 series went on to win the series.
The SMC franchise—which is on its sixth semis stint in the last eight conferences and 18th in the last 22 way back in the 1999 Commissioner’s Cup—also had 12 of 13 players fielded by Tanquincen making it to the scoring chart with five finishing in double figures.
Aside from McCaskill, who was 15-of-20 from the field, also contributing a lot for the Beverage Masters were Lordy Tugade, who had 22 including three triples and Dondon Hontiveros, who had 11. Olsen Racela and Dorian Peña also had 10 each.
Homer Se led the Express with a new career-high 31 points, while Egay Billones finished with 13 and Arwind Santos had 12.
Overconfident
The Beverage Masters, who were overconfident going into the match because of the absence of Thomas, started slow and only led by seven points, 29-22, before closing the first period in their favor, 31-26.
But the Express refused to bow easily and even took a surprising 44-39 advantage, still 4:48 left in the second quarter.
Peña, sensing some trouble, cut the deficit to only three points, while McCaskill split a charity off a foul by Wynne Arboleda and later connected a jumper to tie the score, 44-44, still 2:29 left in the second quarter.
The Express, coming off a long 18-day break since July 2, were on top for the last time, 46-44, on Ranidel de Ocampo’s jumper, but Peña, Racela and Tugade scored a basket each to regain the lead, 50-46, at the end of the half.
From there, the Beverage Masters, who never won against Air 21 in the elimination, were headed for an easy time, firing from all angles to stretch the gap to 77-59 late in the third period. (FCC)
