Thursday, June 26, 2008
STEVE THOMAS LIFTS AIR21 PAST MAGNOLIA: Express a breath away from 1st-ever outright semis spot
Siot Tanquincen let the Air21 Express do what they want to do in the dying seconds of the basketball game. That is to go to their main man during clutch time - Steve Thomas. I can't blame him if he has full confidence that McCaskill could defend him well. But as it turns out, Steve Thomas proved once again that he is one of the main reason why the Air21 Express are on a blazing run this conference with a fade-away shot that went in.
It's clear that the team didn't play god basketball in the fourth quarter. Thus, enabling the Express to establish a double-digit lead. There's simply too many turnovers that got the Express' fastbreak game running.
With the loss, the team's efforts to gain an outright semifinals ticket virtually vanished in the air. There's still a chance but we have little control over what happens to other teams gunning for the same spot.
--------------------
Source: Philippine Basketball Association
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Air21 is now a win away from a franchise first-ever automatic entry into the semifinals.
Steve Thomas scored on a turnaround jumper off Amal McCaskill with 2.9 seconds left, and Air21 Express fended off Magnolia Beverage Masters’ endgame chase, pulling off a 90-88 squeaker that assured the team of a playoff for an outright semis seat in the Smart PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum Wednesday night.
With no more timeout left, Magnolia Beverage Masters couldn’t organize a decent play, leaving Danny Ildefonso with no other option but to throw a long desperation shot that went way off the mark at the buzzer.
The Express thus completed the thriller of a victory that guaranteed the team of at least a tie for second place at the end of the double-round elimination phase.
"There are still a lot of complications. To be sure that we make it to the semis outright, we might as well do our best to beat Purefoods in our last basketball gamme," said Air21 coach Bo Perasol.
"The team’s morale is so high that I guess the boys’ mindset is that we can beat any team we face right now," Perasol added.
The Express kept their hold of the solo lead at 11-6 while relegating the Magnolia Beverage Masters to fourth place at 9-8.
Earlier in the day, Red Bull clobbered Welcoat, 103-90, to also close in on an outright semis passage. The Barakos jacked up their record to 10-6, now a full basketball gamme in front of the third-running Coca-Cola Tigers at 9-7.
"Tingin ko kahit 11-6 baka mag-outright semis na rin kami dahil maglalaban-laban pa ang mga humahabol sa amin," said Perasol whose troops are now on the verge of making a franchise record.
The Express opened up a 14-point lead, 85-71, on a swashbuckling 17-2 run to start the final quarter.
The Magnolia Beverage Masters, however, waged a fierce comeback with a booming triple by Lordy Tugade coming off the bench forging an 88-all deadlock with 26 seconds left to play.
But Air21 won’t be denied.
Perfectly executing the play mapped by their coach, Egay Billones played the clock before going to Thomas who attacked McCaskill’s defense in the dying seconds.
"Iyun ang usapan namin -- manalo o tabla kami with the ball on Thomas’ hands in the closing seconds," said Perasol.
Showing great poise and confidence, Thomas coolly sank his crucial shot off McCaskill sending the Air21 bench and its supporters in a frenzied celebration.
Thomas finished with another double-double basketball gamme with 22 points and 17 rebounds with Gary David, Wynne Arboleda and Arwind Santos adding at least 11 points each. (NC)
The scores:
Air21 90 – Thomas 22, David 14, Arboleda 13, Santos 11, Se 8, Cruz 7, De Ocampo 7, Canaleta 6, Espinas 2, Kramer 0, Billones 0.
Magnolia 88 – McCaskill 20, Pingris 15, Tugade 11, Ildefonso 10, Racela 9, Seigle 8, Hontiveros 6, Cortez 5, Pena 4.
Quarterscores: 25-22, 44-48, 68-69, 90-88
No comments:
Post a Comment