| Coca-Cola’s magic carpet ride goes on.
At the expense of the Air21 Express, whom the Tigers beat 109-102 Sunday evening to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2007-08 Smart PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome. 
For the second time in three games, Asi Taulava came up big for Coca-Cola and eased the team’s passage to a best-of-three pairing with Alaska starting Wednesday.
The other quarters match-up pits Red Bull and Magnolia, also at the same Pasay City venue.
“We are a blessed team,” said Coke coach Binky Favis after his team’s seventh win in its last 10 games, the last two both do-or-die games. “We are so blessed just having an opportunity to be in a position to fight in the quarterfinals, after the rough road we had to go through. All we asked for was a chance and this is a gift, a blessing.”
Nino Canaleta had 21 points to lead Air21, which deposed last year’s champion Barangay Ginebra last Friday with a 119-110 win.
Sunday evening, the Tigers had more fangs and definitely more grit than the Express, leading by as many as 21 points before holding off the Express’ determined rally down the stretch.
Favis said it was by design as his team made its first quarterfinals appearance since the 2006 edition of the same tournament.
“We all wanted to be committed, play hard Tiger basketball and if that’s what it takes to get into the quarterfinals, then so be it,” he said. “My players gave it all they’ve got and when you do that, sometimes you get lucky. Today we did.”
John Arigo led all scorers with 23 points in just 15 minutes, but it was Taulava who shone the brightest when Air21 closed to within 95-99 in the last 3:20 of the game.
Taulava scattered seven f his 17 points in that stretch, including three straight free throws and a short stab that made it a 105-99 count, only 27 ticks left.
Arwind Santos’ triple made it a 102-105 game but his two flubbed charities and a missed triple proved costly and Ronjay Buenafe and Alex Cabagnot made the Express pay for their fouling spree by converting the free throws that sealed the game.
Taulava also wound up with 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals, prompting recollections of his two games that helped ninth-ranked Coca-Cola topple sixth seed Talk N Text last week.
Favis related his prized center and the rest of his players didn’t seem to have it in them to come up with a sustaining attack, much less a finishing kick.
“In the first four minutes of the game, I saw my players puffing and I thought it was too early in the game to be tired. But they were really tired,” he said.
But the Tigers, mainly through Cabagnot and Aris Dimaunahan, still managed to take the opening perod, 26-21, and then padded it to as much as 21 points, the last at 47-26.
Air21 still clung on at 74-84 before fully coming alive and unleashing a 9-2 run that brought the Express tantalizingly close.
Favis now looks forward to the series against Alaska, a team Coke has not beaten yet in the season.
“Alaska is definitely a tough team,” he assessed. “It’s playing its best basketball the last few years and it’s gonna be a tough match-up.” (NCo)
Source: http://www.pba.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1958&Itemid=1
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