Casio, David lift Tigers to emotional win

In the days leading up to their first game of the Commissioner's Cup, the Powerade Tigers had to go through a whole lot of drama off the court. It was no surprise, therefore, that they won this game in dramatic fashion.

With a looming sale to San Miguel Corporation, an impending trade that threatens to break up their young core, and — as if to distract them even further - the sudden resignation of their governor J.B. Baylon serving as an emotional backdrop, the Tigers overcame a listless first half and a 17-point deficit to stun the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, 122-120, at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Nearly a month to the day that the Tigers ousted the Elastopainters in the very same venue in Game 7 of their Philippine Cup semifinal series, the two teams offered up another classic that went down to the wire. And in what has become a familiar refrain in many of Powerade's wins this season, Gary David once again hit a dagger triple to win the game in the dying seconds.

News of Baylon's resignation from Coca-Cola was announced on TV before tip-off, and early on it was obvious the Tigers were affected by it. Rain or Shine built leads of as many as 14 points in the first half before settling for a 59-50 edge at halftime. The E-Painters opened up the third with a 9-1 run behind Jireh Ibanes to establish the largest lead of the game at 68-51 as the Tigers appeared out of synch and devoid of emotion.

At one point, Powerade import Dwayne Jones, a five-year NBA veteran, admonished his teammates for not passing the ball properly on offense. That seemed to finally wake up the Tigers from their stupor, as they rallied to within 85-79 with 2:02 left in the third. But RoS pushed the lead back up to double digits entering the fourth as Paul Lee beat the buzzer with a running bank shot that made it 94-83.

Bo Perasol pulled off a gutsy move to start the final period, pulling out starters Marcio Lassiter and JV Casio and putting in Josh Vanlandingham and Rudy Lingganay. The gamble paid off, as Vanlandingham hit two huge triples, with the second one tying the game at 99 with around nine minutes left.

The two teams went back and forth for the next few minutes before Rain or Shine inched ahead at 113-107 with 2:59 to go thanks to Gabe Norwood's five straight points. Casio answered back with an and-1 to cut it to three, but Beau Belga hit a jumper to push the lead back up to five with 2:27 left. Jones's two free throws were answered by Jeff Chan's leaning jumper as RoS clung to a five-point lead with 1:52 to go.

Casio again answered for Powerade, hitting a big triple to cut the lead to two. On the next possession, Lee's pass to Duke Crews was picked off, leading to a Casio fastbreak that tied the game at 117. Lassiter, who may have played his last game in a Powerade uniform if Commissioner Chito Salud approves the proposed trade on Monday, then stripped Lee of possession just as the latter was elevating for a layup, and the ball bounced off Lee to give possession back to Powerade.

The Tigers patiently swung the ball around before Casio found Sean Anthony underneath for a bucket, giving Powerade its first lead since the first period. But Crews came back with a short stab that tied it up at 119 with only 33 seconds left.

Lassiter missed a triple, but Jones batted the ball to Casio, who found David wide open on the left flank. When David released his shot, you just knew it had to go in, almost as if this was all a movie and the two teams were merely following a script.

Sure enough, swish, nothing but net, and Powerade was up 122-119 with just 13.6 seconds remaining.

Chan missed a triple and the Tigers rebounded, but in keeping with the drama-filled last few days, Lassiter inexplicably went for a drive instead of dribbling out the last five seconds. He missed badly, and Norwood rushed down the court. David, though, smartly fouled Norwood with only 2.1 seconds left, forcing the RoS swingman to make his first free throw, miss the second, and hope that they would score on a putback. He made the first, but his miss on the second saw the ball bounce over the backboard for a violation that virtually sealed Powerade's come-from-behind win.

Although Jones topscored with 34 points and David had 32, it was Casio that keyed the win late in the game. The top overall pick scored all his 14 points in the second half, and afterwards he said he just tried not to get distracted by what's going on off the court.

"We just play," he said. "We don't mind what's happening outside. We just play our game."

Barako Bull import DerMarr Johnson, the sixth overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, also commended Casio via Twitter, saying, "Dwayne Jones was a beast, Gary was great, but Casio won Powerade that game."

On David's killer three, Johnson simply said, "Damn, Gary David. Wow."

Perasol said they were dedicating the game to Baylon, even as he admitted his players were affected by everything.

"Yesterday when we practiced here, I told them I know what we've been going through. I know that deep inside the hearts and the minds of our players that they're very distracted."

On his move to start the fourth with his second stringers, Perasol said he had to do it to keep his starters fresh.

"Ang nasa isip ko lagi ay kung paano mapahaba ang kakayanan ng mga starters ko. The only way to do that is to give them some more rest. Iyong valuable time na nabigay ni Rudy, ni Josh, ay napakalaking bagay para sa mga starters ko."

E-mail: sid_ventura@yahoo.com. Twitter: @Sid_Ventura.