Shell comes out of its shell, stuns Coke

Shell responded well under the handling of its interim coach to claim a 100-98 overtime thriller over Coca-Cola last night in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

A passing error by Rafi Reavis and crucial possession by Ronald Tubid in the closing seconds of overtime play allowed the Turbochargers to escape with the win in the game they played under temporary coach Jigs Mendoza.

Incoming mentor Leo Austria, who is to call the shots for Shell beginning today, watched behind the Turbochargers bench beside Bogs Adornado whom he’s bringing in as a shooting coach. Austria, who is to take over from American coach John Moran, and Adornado were pioneer players of the Shell team in the PBA in 1995.

Mark Sanford scored a conference-high 51 points and Johnny Abarrientos had a near triple-double with 12 rebounds, 12 assists and eight points but it went for naught with Reavis fumbling what could have been a winning play for the Tigers.

Reavis’ lob pass intended for Sanford underneath the basket with the team down by only one at 98-99 with six seconds left in the clock went extra high and fell on the hands of Tubid, who streaked downcourt and fouled by Abarrientos with only 1.1 seconds to go in the contest.

Tubid split his charities and the Tigers never had a chance to map out a play to salvage the game as they ran out of timeouts.

A desperation heave by Reavis himself that was grabbed by Mike Hrabak at the buzzer clinched Shell’s first win in its last four games and second in seven games in all. Coca-Cola fell to 3-3.

Austria takes over from Mendoza as Shell goes for its first back-to-back victories in the conference versus Ginebra Sunday.

"I’m very happy because this is another dream come true for me. And I’m extra happy dahil umabot ang coaching career ko sa PBA na ang team ko pa ang hahawakan ko," said Austria, a former Lyceum Pirate who was a Turbocharger for 11 seasons.

"We’re also happy to have a Shell alumnus as our new coach," said Shell board representative and team manager Bobby Kanapi, who bared they signed up Austria to a one-year-and-three-month contract.

Both teams had their chances to win the game in regulation but Rensy Bajar misfired a three-point attempt with six seconds to go and Sanford missed an attempt for a twinner three seconds later.

Sta. Lucia Realty survived a spirited chase by Barangay Ginebra at endgame, breaking into the win-column with a 100-98 decision in the nightcap.