MANILA, Philippines - Gary David played every inch as the tournament MVP that he is, and Powerade survived a nightmarish finish, averting a Talk n Text sweep with a 100-97 win in Game Four of the PBA Philippine Cup finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
The Tigers scraped the bottom to stay alive, making David’s day more meaningful after winning the Best Player of the Conference award before the game.
David made a valedictory address through yet another 30-point game, and the Tigers growled with him to force a fifth game in the best-of-seven series.
Game Five is set at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the same venue.
“After getting the award, I set it aside and just focused on the game,” said David.
“We came into the game with a positive frame of mind. We’re badly beaten in Game One, improved a little in Game Two and fought them in overtime in Game Three. We’re really hoping we can pull off this one,” David also said.
Sean Anthony came through with a double-double game with 19 points and 11 rebounds and Marcio Lassiter, Doug Kramer and Romel Adducul also provided some push as the Tigers survived a fourth knockout game in the post-elim plays.
“I’ll be arrogant to say we can comeback. I’ll just say it’s doable,” said Powerade coach Bo Perasol on their chance to salvage the series.
Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes rued their frontline was outplayed by their Powerade counterparts and blew a shot at a 4-0 sweep.
“To win the game, we have to play our strengths. Tonight we didn’t, and we got our butts kicked,” said Reyes.
Teetering on the brink, the Tigers fought with great resolve and squeezed through though held to a single field goal basket in the last four minutes of play.
The Tropang Texters wiped out an 11-point deficit in the last six minutes but yielded the game just the same with Jason Castro and Jimmy Alapag missing potential game-tying three-pointers in the dying seconds.
Alapag’s attempt from the right quartercourt rimmed out at the buzzer.
With the needed help from its support crew, Powerade led at the half, 53-43, for the first time in the series.
Adducul scored seven points off the bench, including a three-point play off Harvey Carey that gave the Tigers a 14-point spread at 42-28.
Rudy Lingganay and Josh Vanlandingham were also a factor.
In Game Three, Perasol shuffled only eight players in the first half.
Sean Anthony beat the buzzer with a follow-up of a Jvee Casio miss to close the half.
The Texters made a chase in the third quarter with Castro firing 16 points, including a trey at the buzzer to make it 75-all. - By Nelson Beltran (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)
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