Tigers show no mercy for Express

BACOLOD CITY — Coca-Cola brought its winning ways all the way down to this city of smiles as it clobbered FedEx last night, 118-84, for victory No. 10 in the Samsung PBA Reinforced Conference at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum.

A big crowd greeted the Tigers and local boy Reynel Hugnatan, and cheered them on all throughout the lopsided contest that had the tournament leader racing to an awesome 30-point lead, 106-76, heading into the final two minutes.

Hugnatan, who honed his skills here while playing for the Negros Slashers in the defunct MBA, closed out the Bacolod City massacre with a right-handed breakaway dunk in the closing seconds.

Coca-Cola has only tasted defeat once in 11 games this conference and can actually afford to take it easy heading into the quarterfinals. FedEx, on the other hand, was an anemic, pitiful sight on the floor in absorbing its seventh loss against three wins.

Action resumes today at the Philsports Arena with Shell and Ginebra colliding in the first game at 4 p.m. and Alaska squaring off with Sta. Lucia in the second at 6:30 p.m.

It will be a must-win game for the Turbo Chargers who, with a 3-7 record, is on the verge of being eliminated in Group B. The Gin Kings have a 5-5 record following a stunning victory over Talk N Text last Wednesday.

Ginebra will once again pin its hopes on import Rosell Ellis who dished out 25 points and 15 rebounds against the Phone Pals. It was his debut game for the Kings after replacing Ricky Price who failed to blend well with the team.

The 10 teams were divided into two groups with each one of them playing 13 games in the elimination round. Only one team per group will be eliminated while the rest advance to the quarterfinals.

Coca-Cola leads Group 2 at 9-1 while Sta. Lucia is ahead in Group A at 6-3. The Realtors are also favored to prevail against Alaska, which will go into the game reeling from a 92-94 loss to tailender Purefoods the other night.