Tigers close in on PBA wild card berth

Cola-Cola earned a playoff for the last wild card berth in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup, blasting Rain or Shine, 105-83, Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum. Chris Ross scored 11 of his career-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, while Asi Taulava contributed 14 markers and 14 rebounds in the Tigers’ fourth win in their last five outings.

Overall, they improved to a 5-12 (win-loss) card and now only need to win their remaining elimination round game against Barako Bull on Wednesday (Jan. 20) to formalize their entry into the playoffs. The Tigers can actually advance outright in the event Sta. Lucia wins over Barako Bull in their game Sunday. “My challenge to them was basically that it’s a game that can go both ways. I think we believe that we have what it takes to beat them and they, too, have what it takes to beat us. Fortunately, they (Tigers) responded well to the challenge," said Tigers’ coach Bo Perasol. Mark Macapagal contributed 17 points, RJ Rizada had 13 and Gary David, playing his first game with the Tigers after being traded by Burger King, added 12 points and six rebounds. The Tigers clobbered the Elasto Painters off the boards, 65-42. Gabe Norwood, Sol Mercado, and Eddie Laure each scored 14 points for Rain or Shine, which dropped to 4-13 and remains in danger of being eliminated. The Painters have one more game left against Alaska on Jan. 22. A big scoring run in the third period, sparked by a David three-pointer, decided the outcome of the game. Following a lay up by Mark Telan with 8:08 to go in the quarter to make it a 57-56 Coca-Cola lead, the Tigers went on a 13-2 tear to hike the score to 70-58 and take control of the match. The Tigers never allowed the Painters to mount a rally from there, even posting leads by as large as 23, the last at 100-77. Overall, Coca-Cola outscored Rain or Shine, 56-37, in the second half, and had more points off the break, 20-8. The Tigers, too, had a better shooting percentage from the floor with 48.1 percent (37-of-77) to the Painters’ woeful 33.3 percent (29-of-87). – GMANews.TV