Report on PBA games played on Friday, Oct. 10, 2008.
The San Miguel Beermen made mincemeat of the Purefoods TJ Giants, 111-98, Friday to notch their first win in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup.
The Beermen led by as much as 39 points as they bounced back from a heartbreaking 85-84 loss against the Alaska Aces last Sunday.
Jay Washington led San Miguel with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
In the first game of the double-header played at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters finally tamed the Red Bull Barakos, 96-90, to grab a share of the lead with the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters, both with a 2-0 slate.
Aside from losing to Rain or Shine, formerly Welcoat, for the first time, Red Bull also recorded its second straight loss, the first time it suffered the fate since the 2004-05 Philippine Cup when it wound up at the bottom of the standings.
Purefoods earlier dealt Red Bull a stinging 73-77 defeat last Wednesday when the Barakos let their 16-point third quarter lead go down the drain.
Although Friday’s story had the same ending for Red Bull, the circumstances were different as the Barakos rallied from a 27-51 second quarter deficit only to fall short in the end.
Rookie Tyrone Tang helped Rain or Shine stave off Red Bull’s initial threat before prized acquisitions Gabe Norwood and Solomon Mercado each buried a triple in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to thwart the Red Bull uprising. Mercado and Norwood both finished with 11 points with the latter, this year’s top overall Draft pick, adding a team-high 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
“For our rookies to show such composure in the last quarter, the way they played, is really something,” said winning head coach Caloy Garcia.
The Elasto Painters earlier led by as much as 24 points, 51-27 lead, but found themselves facing a stiff fight in the payoff period.
“We almost had our let-down, but our rookies bailed us out, gave us this morale-boosting win,” Garcia added.
Ryan Arana topscored for Rain or Shine with 15 points while Tang, Jay-R Reyes and veteran Rob Wainwright scored 13 points each.
Celino Cruz rallied the Barakos almost singlehandedly, scoring 5-of-5 from the three-point line for a team-high 17 points, all scored in the fourth quarter.
