Tigers roar on clutch treys in OT

Allan Salangsang and Denok Miranda combined for three huge three-pointers inside the last 62 seconds and the Coca-Cola Tigers fought back from the brink of defeat for a thriller of a win over the Alaska Milk Aces at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Tigers nosed out the Aces, 99-98, in overtime on clutch treys by Salangsang and Miranda and, thus, stayed in the hunt for the last seat in the Talk n Text PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals.

Miranda, a poor 18-percent three-point shooter, buried a killer triple at the buzzer, sending the Tigers to a frenzied celebration as they avoided outright elimination right on opening day of the wildcard round.

Salangsang was as heroic as he set the stage for that Miranda game-winner with the ex-Letran Knight bombing away back-to-back three-pointers seconds earlier to get the Tigers back into the fight.

Just when everybody thought the Aces had put the game away as they held a 98-93 lead with time down to 42 seconds, the Tigers roared back to salvage the win that kept them in contention for the right to challenge Red Bull in the quarterfinals.

"It gets tougher by the day for us. But we’ll continue to enjoy it as long as we still have a game to play," said Coca-Cola coach Binky Favis. "We’ve got a great tailwind going to our next games. Hopefully, it provides us the needed momentum."

The Tigers need to sweep their two remaining games in the wildcard round to get a playoff crack at the last quarterfinals seat.

The Aces, meanwhile, virtually bowed out of race with the sorry loss to the Tigers.

It was a sweet win for the Tigers who played catch-up most of the way and merely forced overtime on a big defensive stop in the closing seconds of regulation play.

Curiously, they were able to make the key treys in overtime with their best gunner William Antonio sidelined by cramps.

Favis said Miranda’s buzzer-beating triple reminded him of Lee Sang Min’s killer of a three-pointer in the RP-Korea semifinal game during the Busan Asiad in 2002.

"It’s nice to be on the other end of the situation," said Favis, among the deputies of coach Jong Uichico in that Busan debacle.

Needing four straight wins, no less, to survive the wildcard round, the Air21 Express made their task a game easier with a big massacre of the Sta. Lucia Realtors in the second game.

The Express came out strong in their first game in 2007, pounding the absence of the injured Dennis Espino in the Sta. Lucia bench in an emphatic 121-99 victory that kept the team in contention for a quarterfinal slot.