Coke forces rubber for semis

Ron Hale struggled with his shooting most of the way but gained his bearing with the game on the line as Coca-Cola scored a come-from-behind 84-80 win over San Miguel Beer, forcing a sudden-death in their Samsung PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals matchup at the Philsports Arena last night.

Hale made a hail of baskets at the finish connecting practically from all angles, as Coca-Cola fought back from the brink of disaster to stay in the hunt for a slot in the semifinal round.

The 6-foot-7 import, who went 8 of 20 from the field in the first three quarters of play, sizzled in the playoff period, firing 16 points including all but two of Coca-Cola’s last 16 markers in the contest.

He finished with 37 points, 10 rebounds and one assists.

Before Hale finally got his rhythm, Coca-Cola looked headed for doom, trailing by seven points at 68-75 with a little over three minutes left in the clock.

"That’s the beauty of the game, you really never know what happens till the end. Before Hale hit his shots, I thought we’re already dead in the water," said Coca-Cola coach Chot Reyes.

"We died by our three-pointers in the first half. Ironically, three-point shooting brought us back in the game. We knew it, you have to knock in your outside shots to beat San Miguel because they have a good interior defense," Reyes added.

Though Hale struggled early on, the Tigers stayed in the thick of things with Torraye Braggs carrying the bulk of the fight for the team. Braggs wound up with 27 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

Ironically, that could become Braggs (farewell game with Coca-Cola as he is set to leave for the US to undergo theraphy on a pulled hamstring. He played the game with his replacement Carlos Daniels of Washington State watching at the gallery.

Both teams played minus one key player each with Beerman Nic Belasco and Tiger Estong Ballesteros nursing different injuries.