Tigers blow 24-point lead, but hang tough to spoil Clickers' PBA debut

Powerade blew a huge 24-point first half lead, but hang tough in the end for a 98-87 win over Shopinas.com Wednesday night in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Astrodome in Pasay City.

Gary David blasted the Clickers with 31 points, 23 of which came in the first half when the Tigers built what seemed to be an insurmountable 40-16 lead with less than two minutes gone in the second period. But the Clickers, behind veteran gunner Ren Ren Ritualo, surprisingly made a game out of it behind a huge second-half comeback that wasn't suppressed until Celino Cruz hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to make it 96-85 with 2:57 to play. That Shopinas.com, handled by multi-titled college coach Franz Pumaren, didn't go away without a fight, came as no surprise to Powerade mentor Bo Perasol. "I told them that Shopinas is a new team and if we're going to struggle against them we're definitely going to struggle with the other teams," said Perasol. "I'm happy that we won but I;m definitely not satisfied with the way we played defense. We really need to work hard on cohesion. We could have limited them (Clickers) more." The win put Powerade in a tie with Rain or Shine for the early lead. The Elasto Painters edged out Barangay Ginebra Kings in Sunday's opener, 94-93. Cruz finished with 15 points, Josh Vanlandingham had 14 and rookie Marcio Lassiter finished with 10, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals in 30 minutes of action. Their effort somehow eased the absence of top rookie pick JV Casio, out with a stressed left knee. He is expected to make his pro debut in the Tigers' third or fourth game. As expected, Ritualo showed the way for Shopinas.com with 19 points while rookie James Sena made his presence felt by coming through with a double-double of 15 markers and 12 rebounds. After struggling in the early going, Shopinas.com finally clicked behind a daunting press. They came to within 63-60 on a Khazim Mirza three-pointer withe five minutes and 55 seconds left in the third period. The Tigers, however, managed to keep the Clickers at bay, 93-81, midway in the pivotal fourth before Cruz came through with the clutch three-pointer in the stretch that took the fight out of Shopinas.com. — JVP, GMA News