Welcoat Dragons torch Coca-Cola Tigers, 85-75

The Welcoat Dragons torched the Coca-Cola Tigers, 85-75, Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum to score their first win as newcomers to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Rookie center JR Ibanez, reputed to be the cornerstone of the Welcoat team, was named the Player na Walang Katulad, after he scored 16 points, 7 rebounds, and two block shots. The Dragons wer leading by nine points, 63-54 after three quarters, when the out-of-synch Coke started the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to cut their opponent's lead to two, 63-61. However, timely hits by Welcoat players Froilan Baguion and Rob Wainright padded the lead to seven, 68-61. The Dragons was leading by five points, 72-67, when Jojo Tangkay scored on a put-back after a rebound play to push the lead of Welcoat by eight points, 75-67, with less than five minutes left in the ball-game. Welcoat got its highest lead in the ballgame, 10 points, after a drive by former Tiger Rob Wainright put it at 77-67, with 4:10 remaining. However, Coke managed to cut the deficit to six points after freethrows by Peek and Arigo, 77-71, with 2:10 remaining in the game. Gilbert Lao, who once played for the UST Growling Tigers, scored one-out-of-two from the freethrow line, to give Welcoat a comfortable seven-point lead, 78-71 with less than two minutes left. After a miss by Arigo, Baguion scored on a hard-drive to push Welcoat’s lead to nine points, 80-71, with less than a minute left, forcing coach Binky Favis to call a timeout. After back-to-back baskets by Yeo and Arigo made the score at 80-75, Baguion and Lopez put the final nail on the coffin for Coke after two freethrows and a jumpshot padded Welcoat’s lead to nine points, 84-75, with 23 seconds left. A freethrow by Lopez with 4.3 seconds after a Coke foul put the final tally at 85-75. Ali Peek, who has three fouls in the first half, only scored two points and five rebounds in the first three quarters. He ended the game with only 10 points. Rookies Jun-Jun Cabatu and JR Reyes spearheaded the assault of the Dragons in the first half after Peek got into foul trouble, scoring on put-backs and drives. Joseph Yeo, the former La Salle hotshot guard, was a big disappointment in his second game for Coke after he just went 4-out-of-21 from the field. He only scored 10 points and six rebounds for the game. Arigo scored 24 points and nine rebounds (seven out of eight from the line), to lead Coke's offensive. Welcoat owners Terry Que and Reymund Yu were on hand to witness their team chalk up their first win in the pro-league. Welcoat has more second chance points for the game with 19 against Coke’s eight. It also has a big edge on bench production with 44 as against the Tiger’s 20. Welcoat, meanwhile, was impeccable from the freethrow line, scoring 22 out of 30 attempts. In an interview, Welcoat coach Leo Austria praised his players for the hard-fought victory after a dissapointing loss against the Barangay Ginebra Kings in their debut a week ago. "We hope this victory will serve as an inspiration for us to strive harder as the season progresses," Austria said. The game was a continuation of the 2006-07 Talk 'N' Text Philippine Cup. - GMANews.TV