MANILA, Philippines - Three Coca-Cola players each poured in at least 20 points as the Tigers beat the San Miguel Beermen in a shootout, hacking out a 118-107 win to boost their bid for the KFC PBA Philippine Cup playoff phase at the Araneta Coliseum last night.
Asi Taulava and Norman Gonzales put in personal conference-best outputs of 27 and 22 points, respectively, while RJ Rizada added a career-best 20 as the Tigers nailed the crucial victory that brought them closer to a spot in the wildcard round.
Coca-Cola thus caught up with Rain or Shine at eighth place with 4-12 win-loss cards, a game ahead of Barako Bull (3-13).
The Tigers and the Elasto Painters mix it up at 5 p.m. tomorrow, also at the Big Dome, as they dispute a guaranteed playoff crack at the last wildcard round berth.
“We’re lucky to catch San Miguel on a game with no importance on them. If opportunity presents itself, I challenged the guys to grab it,” said Coca-Cola coach Bo Perasol.
“It’s an important win that gave us a one full game advantage over Barako Bull. We don’t want to be the first team eliminated in this tourney,” Perasol said.
Already assured of an outright semifinal slot, San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen opted to rest hurting big men Dorian Peña, Jay Washington and Danny Seigle.
Still, the Beermen battled the Tigers in a see-saw game before fading away in the final quarter.
Rizada went 3-of-3 from the three-point area and totaled 12 points while Taulava, Gonzales and Larry Rodriguez combined for 18 points in the payoff quarter.
Taulava struck hardest in the third period, Rizada had his finest moment in the fourth quarter while Gonzales played steadily throughout, holding their own against Arwind Santos, Lordy Tugade and Mike Cortez.
This marked the first time this season that three teammates came through with a 20-point showing in a game.
“For us to score that much (118), we need our players to step up their offensive games. Taulava, Gonzales and Rizada did just that,” said Perasol.
“The whole team played with intensity and enthusiasm. Hopefully, we can come out with the same effort against Rain or Shine,” Perasol said.
The Tigers shot well from the field, hitting at a 47.6 percent clip from the three-point area and at 50.6 percent overall.
The Beermen didn’t do that bad but they missed the usual steady games of Dondon Hontiveros and Jonas Villanueva.
Villanueva made only six points on 2-of-9 field-goal shooting while Hontiveros scored only five on 1-of-4 field-goal shooting and 3-of-4 clip from the stripe.