Petron Blaze Boosters Basketball Updates

Photo Credit: PBA.PH

It was the second time that import Gabe Freeman went out of the playing court but the San Miguel Beermen is not so lucky this time around. After sitting on the bench mid in the fourth quarter due to cramps, the Gabe Freeman-led San Miguel Beermen lose the stronghold and eventually lose to the Coca-Cola Tigers as opposed to their first game against the Air21 Express. Chico Lanete led the Coca-Cola Tigers‘ late attack with his key three pointers and husle plays.

The Beermen also found difficulty manning the lane with Freeman’s exit as evidenced by their bigmen getting into foul trouble and subsequently went out of the playing court due to foul trouble one after the other including Jay Washington, Danny Ildefonso, and Dondon Hontiveros. I did not withness what happened to Dorian in the first quarter but the only thing I’ve seen is that he is heading to the dugout when I opened the TV.

Another cause for the Beermen’s downfall is their series of turnovers when the Coca-Cola Tigers are having their run. They seem not to know what to do after Freeman went out. Despite this, I have seen how lethal San Miguel’s offensive firepower is when they wipe out the Tigers lead in a span of a few minutes in the second quarter.

One thing that the coaching staff should consider is the situation wherein Gabe Freeman will went out of the playing court for whatever reason. They should map out a plan on how to handle this so that the locals can still be able to win despite Gabe’s exit. I believe that the San Miguel Beermen is a team with strong local crew so they are still capable of winning in a game despite an import’s loss.

The San Miguel Beermen will surely bounce back on Wednesday against the Talk N Text Tropang Texters. I’m not sure if Dorian will be suspended for his flagrant foul but hopefully he can play so that he can treat us with a good match up between heavyweight import Shawn Daniels of the Tropang Texters.

The rest of the game story is reported by the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA.PH) below:

COCA-COLA TIGERS SCRATCH AND CLAW TO EARLY SOLO LEAD

Sun, 03/28/2010 – 00:51 — junior

GINGOOG CITY — With a gutsy stand and breaks going their way, the Coca-Cola Tigers repulsed the San Miguel Beermen, 108-98, Saturday for early solo leadership in the 2010 PBA Fiesta Conference.

Coca-Cola beat out San Miguel in a duel of spurts with the Beermen nearly running out of big men in their road game at the Arturo S. Lugod Gym here.

Dorian Pena went to the showers ahead of everybody on a flagrant foul on Dennis Espino right in the first quarter, Gabe Freeman cramped out with 5:13 left to play while Jay Washington, Dondon Hontiveros and Danny Ildefonso fouled out in the homestretch.

The Tigers simply took advantage of the situation as they went on to chalk up their first 2-0 start in a tournament in the last two seasons. The team had a woeful 0-3 start in the last Philippine Cup where they finished seventh.

Coming off a 23-point drubbing of Barako Energy Coffee Wednesday, Coca-Cola actually struggled at the start but showed patience as they slowly got into the game and eventually beat San Miguel.

Unable to sustain the momentum of their triumphant debut versus the Air21 Express also last Wednesday, the Beermen moved down to joint second place with the Sta. Lucia Realtors, the Barangay Ginebra Kings, the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters and the Barako Energy Coffee Masters with identical 1-1 win-loss records.

Chico Lanete came off the bench to preside over Coca-Cola’s swashbuckling finish. The former Lyceum Pirate wound up with 15 points and four steals, the bulk of which he made in the fourth quarter.

The Beermen, the reigning Fiesta champions, started strong but scrambled at the finish on the early ouster of Freeman, Pena, Washington, Hontiveros and Ildefonso.

With no import rival to contend with, James Penny imposed his will at the finish, winding up with a game-high 33 markers.

Gary David added 19 points while Dennis Espino contributed 12.

Lanete, however, was the sparkplug of the Tiger’s telling fourth-quarter run. The hard-nosed guard highlighted his exploits with two important three-pointers with the last making it 93-86 with time down to 3:37.

With Freeman already on the bench, the Tigers unleashed a 14-4 run to race ahead, 88-85, entering the last five minutes of the game.

Freeman had made 18 before he was helped to the bench. Arwind Santos also tossed in 18 with Ildefonso chipping in 17 coming off the bench.

San Miguel started with a 10-0 run but Coca-Cola quickly responded, taking the first period at 32-26.

The two teams exchanged runs until the Tigers seized control for good midway through the final period. (SB)

The scores:

Coca-Cola 108 — Penny 33, David 19, Lanete 15, Espino 12, Taulava 9, Rizada 9, Macapagal 9, Cruz 2, Ross 0, Gonzales 0, Allera 0, Rodriguez 0, Bono 0.

San Miguel Beer 98 — Freeman 18, Santos, 18, Ildefonso 17, Hontiveros 12, Cabagnot 8, Yeo 8, Washington 6, Villanueva 6, Pennisi 3, Seigle 2, Miranda 0, Holper 0, Pena 0.

Quarterscores: 32-26, 51-57, 72-77, 108-98.