Tigers clobber Beermen, grab lead

MANILA, Philippines - Coca-Cola outscored San Miguel in a duel of spurts last night, getting away with a telling run at the finish for a 108-98 victory in their PBA Fiesta Conference road game at the Gingoog City Sports and Cultural Center in Gingoog, Misamis Oriental.

Chico Lanete came off the bench to preside over Coca-Cola’s swashbuckling, finish sending the Tigers to a second straight win for early solo leadership in the season-ending reinforced conference.

The Beermen started strong but faltered at the finish as they lost big men Dorian Peña, Gabe Freeman, Jay Washington and Danny Ildefonso one after the other.

They moved down to joint second place with the Sta. Lucia Realtors, the Ginebra Kings, the Talk n Text Tropang Texters and the Barako Energy Coffee Masters with identical 1-1 win-loss records.

The Realtors and the Energy Coffee Masters go for a second straight win as they take on the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Air21 Express, respectively, at the resumption of play at the Araneta Coliseum today.

Dorian went to the showers ahead of everybody on a flagrant foul on Dennis Espino right in the first quarter, Freeman suffered cramps with 5:13 left to play while Washington and Ildefonso fouled out in the homestretch.

The Tigers simply pounced on the situation, unleashing a 14-4 run to race ahead, 88-85, entering the last five minutes of the game.

With no import rival to contend with, James Penny imposed his will at the finish and the Tigers went on to chalk up their first 2-0 start in the last four conferences. They had a 0-3 start in the recent Philippine Cup where they finished seventh.

The Tigers set out for the game coming off a 13-point whipping of the Energy Coffee Masters Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.