Chandler lights up Purefoods

A well-rested Purefoods Chunkee Giants showed no signs of rustiness as they drew first blood in the best-of-seven semifinal series against the Air21 Express, 94-89, in the PBA San Mig Coffee Fiesta Conference last night at the Araneta Coliseum. In an explosive semifinal contest, it was Purefoods import Marquin Chandler who made the loudest bang, scoring a PBA career-high 46 points that also stood as the Fiesta conference-high.

Chandler had also 16 rebounds and went 18 out of 29 from the field as he became a one-man wrecking crew in the second half after scoring only seven points at the end of the first period.

On top of the exciting hardcourt battle, a near fight ensued between Chandler and Express' offguard Gary David as the latter was apparently irked by the pesky defense of David, who did not give him enough space to breathe.

Chandler lost handle of the leather to David while dribbling and in front of the Purefoods' bench, Chandler hugged David tightly and tried to wrestle him towards the Giants' goal.

The proverbial cooler heads prevented what would have been a replica of the Las Vegas fight between Manny Pacquiao against Erik Morales of Mexico right inside the Big Dome, the championship capital of the Philippines for sports. As a result, Chandler and David were both slapped with a penalty 1 as well as double technical fouls.

Coaches Ryan Gregorio and Bo Perasol of Purefoods and Air21, respectively, as well as Express point guard Wynne Arboleda were also slapped with technical fouls for entering the court.

Actually, Gregorio and assistant coach Ronnie Magsanoc just wanted to break up chandler and David because it happened just a few steps from their bench.

Complimenting Chandlers' high-scoring night was Cebuano Roger Yap, who had 13 points to match his jersey number. His quarterbacking spelled the difference for Giants. The Giants did it despite the fact that James Yap struggled with only five points.

"It's nice to win Game 1. We have not achieved anything yet," said coach Gregorio after the game.

The Express, who are playing on their third straight day, likewise did not show a sign of fatigue but their import Shawn Daniels proved no match for Chandler as far as scoring is concerned.