Tigers streak past Realtors, 94-79

The ferocity of the Coca-Cola Tigers is back after they posted an easy 94-79 road win against the Sta. Lucia Realtors in the 2007-08 Smart-PBA Philippine Cup at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City. The win by the Tigers snap a franchise-worst eight straight losses as they improved to 2-8 overall with the eliminations of the season-opening tournament now more than halfway through. The Realtors, on the other hand, lost their second straight game and fell to 4-6. The win also avenged a humiliating 97-63 loss to Sta. Lucia in their first meeting last November 14. Asi Taulava posted a second straight explosive double-double as the Tigers capitalized on a fiery start to finally put an end to their woes. Seeing action in only his second game with his new team, Taulava came away with 26 points and dominated the boards with a conference-high 24 rebounds. The 6-foot-9 stocky center, acquired in a trade recently from Talk `N Text in exchange for Ali Peek and Coke’s first round pick next year, finished with 33 points and 17 rebounds in his Tigers’ debut, an impressive outing spoiled by the Alaska Aces, 117-106. Taulava’s 24 boards was his most in a game since he had a career-high 26 on March 26, 2003 in a 104-92 win by the Phone Pals over Shell in the All-Filipino Cup elimination and was also the most by any local since Barangay Ginebra’s Eric Menk had 27 in the Kings’ 91-80 win over Talk ‘N Text on October 27, 2004 in the 2004-05 Philippine Cup elimination. Kelly Williams, meanwhile, led Sta. Lucia with 18 points and 14 rebounds while Joseph Yeo had 13. Taulava, who got a lot of help from Mark Telan who scored 23 points, and former league MVP Kenneth Duremdes, who had 15 against his former team, were never threatened in the game. The one-sided win was the first for Coca-Cola since beating Welcoat Paints, 85-76, in its first game of the season last October 19. Except for a brief spell early in the first quarter, the Tigers were never threatened the rest of the way the moment they seized the lead, 10-6, on three straight baskets. They led by as many as 16 and the closest the Realtors got was at 77-70 on a basket by Kelly Williams midway in the fourth. But with Taulava dominating inside, the Tigers held sway, hiking the lead back to 88-74 following Alex Cabagnot’s spectacular three-pointer just as the shot clock was winding down with 2:38 left in the game. The scores: Coca-Cola (94) Taulava 26, Telan 23, Duremdes 15, Cabagnot 11, Dimaunahan 7, Buenafe 4, Isip 4, Enrile 2, Caceres 2, Tolomia 0. Sta. Lucia (79) Williams 18, Yeo 13, Reyes 11, Espino 10, Aquino 8, Mendoza 7, Daa 4, Omolon 4, Miranda 2, Gonzales 2, Coronel 0, Butel 0. Quarterscores: 30-17; 51-38; 68-59; 94-79 - GMANews.TV