Tigers cage Phone Pals

Source: The Philippine Star | March 30, 2008

PANABO, Davao del Norte -- Calvin Cage sparked a Coca-Cola rally before sustaining an injury late in the third quarter and the Tigers kept the momentum on the way to an 87-79 victory over the Talk n Text Phone Pals at the start of the PBA Fiesta Cup at the Panabo Sports Center here last night.

Cage left the game ahead of everybody after a bad fall with a few seconds left in the third but the Tigers lived on with new recruits Mark Macapagal and Nic Belasco taking charge in the payoff period.

Macapagal and Belasco had two triples apiece in a crucial fourth-quarter attack giving the Tigers a winning start in the season-ending tourney.

Asi Taulava tossed in seven points, including a short stab with 11:11 left in the third quarter making him the 58th member of the league's 5,000-point club.

Coca-Cola has made it 3-0 against Talk n Text in their personal battle since Taulava's transfer midway through the recent Philippine Cup elimination round.

Though playing with only one import in Aaron McGhee, the Pals took control in the early goings only to falter in the last quarter, thus losing their first game under new coach Chot Reyes.

Trailing by 14 points in the first half, the Tigers zoomed ahead at 62-59 at the end of the third on a 15-2 run capped by a running jumper by Ronjay Buenafe just before the buzzer sounded.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Macapagal made it 68-61 and two successive treys by Belasco later on broke the Pals' back at 81-70.

Cage, a mere replacement on Coke's original pick Bobby Burries, scattered 19 points before being carried to their dugout after a bad fall late in the third. Jason Dixon, the team's big import standing at 6-foot-10, put in the same output.

McGhee led all scorers with 24 points with Don Allado and Jay Washington backing him up with 12 apiece.

From a 2-all deadlock, the Pals made an eight-to-nothing run and took full control of the opening half, ending at 40-30 in their favor.

Talk n Text closed the first quarter at 25-15 and led by as many as 14, 39-25, in the second period on a power post move by McGhee against Jason Dixon.

The Pals took the early initiative while shooting 48 percent from the field as against the Tigers' poor 28-percent clip in the first half.

Meanwhile, Welcoat starts its campaign under new head coach Caloy Garcia as it takes on Air21 in the 4:30 p.m. curtain-raiser in the tourney's first twinbill at the Araneta Coliseum today.

Red Bull, the All-Filipino third placer, parades seven-foot import Adam Parada against Barangay Ginebra at 6:50 p.m.

The Scores:

First Game
Coca-Cola 87 - Dixon 19, Cage 19, Buenafe 12, Macapagal 11, Belasco 10, Catli 9, Taulava 7, Telan 0, Cabagnot 0, Dimaunahan 0.

Talk N Text 79 - McGhee 24, Washington 12, Allado 12, Cardona 9, Ritualo 7, Peek 6, Alapag 4, Belano 3, Carey 2, Aljamal 0.

Quarterscores: 15-25, 30-40, 62-59, 87-79

Source: http://www.ngetstudio.com/news/?id=4066