PBA: Coke survives Welcoat, 98-96

MANILA, Philippines - The Coca-Cola Tigers kept themselves unbeaten in three games after surviving the Welcoat Dragons, 98-96, in the 2008 Smart-PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum Wednesday. Coke, fresh from a 109-108 victory against Purefoods TJ Hotdogs, got 36 big points from import Jason Dixon followed by Cesar Catli who had 18 markers. Point-guard Alex Cabagnot, on the other hand, had 13 while Paul Asi Taulava finished with 10 and 12 rebounds. Welcoat, which dropped to 0-3 that extended its losing skid to 14 dating back to the previous conference, was led by its new import Marquise Gainous with 23 points. Corey Santee, the Dragons other import, added 22 while JayR Reyes had 14. It was another heartbreaking defeat for the Dragons, who led by as many as 18 points (50-32) late in the second period, and was still up by four, 94-90, with 1:23 left in the game. However, Dixon made a lay-up and Buenafe nailed a triple, to wrest the upper-hand at 95-94. Buenafe, the 6-foot-1 one-time Emilio Aguinaldo College stalwart, then capped his endgame heroics with a big- time defensive stop when he tapped away the ball from behind the driving Reyes. That led to Reyes fouling Dixon, who canned two free throws for a 97-94 advantage with 6.4 seconds left. Apparently not aware that his team was down by three points, Gainous made a blunder by just going for a lay-up with 1.9 seconds. Santee then fouled Buenafe, who split his free throws for the winning margin, 98-96, with 1.2 seconds to go. Santee failed to launch a shot at mid-court as time expired. The win kept Coke unbeaten as it improved its record to 3-0. The Tigers actually had a replacement for the injured Calvin Cage, who will be out for two months with a fractured right ankle suffered in the season-opening game against Talk ‘N Text last March 29. However, team management decided not to use George Gervin Jr, the son of NBA great George “Iceman" Gervin. The scores: Coca-Cola (98) Dixon 36, Catli 18, Cabagnot 13, Taulava 10, Buenafe 8, Macapagal 5, Telan 3, Belasco 3, Dimaunahan 2. Welcoat (96) Gainous 23, Santee 22, Reyes 14, Dulay 13, De Vance 10, Arana 9, Wainwright 3, Isip 2, Baguion 0, Tangkay 0. Quarterscores: 19-26; 37-50; 63-76; 98-96. - GMANews.TV