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By Joel Orellana, Reporter
WELCOAT Paints eyes its second
straight win against Barangay Ginebra in the main game of the Talk
‘N Text-Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup Friday at
the Araneta Coliseum.
The Dragons, fresh from an
astounding 114-104 win over Sta. Lucia Realty, meet the Kings at
7:20 p.m.
In the opener, the
Realtors, under new head coach Boyet Fernandez, hope to end a
two-game slide against the also skidding Purefoods Tender Juicy
Giants at 4:35 p.m.
After losing a close contest to
Coca-Cola in its opening game, Welcoat unleashed its fury on Sta.
Lucia behind the solid efforts from imports Charles Clark, Alex
Compton and the unheralded Jireh Ibañes.
Clark, who had a dismal 16-point
game in 79-81 loss to the Tigers, came out with 37 markers on
18-of-28 shooting from the field while Ibañes netted a
personal-best of 25. Compton dished out the conference-high 11
assists.
“Charles proved his worth to
the team. Medyo nangapa siya nung first game namin but he was able
to recover against Sta. Lucia,” said Dragons head coach Leo
Austria, whose wards finished a league-worst 3-15 in the last
Philippine Cup.
“Yung leadership ni Alex
importante sa amin dahil ‘yun ang wala sa amin noong first
conference. But the players knew through hardwork, kaya naming
manalo ngayon,” Austria added.
Welcoat will be facing the
All-Filipino champions Kings who came up short in their first game
against Alaska, 98-100.
Ginebra’s import Rod
Nealy had an impressive debut as he scored 31 points and grabbed 16
rebounds but coach Jong Uichico obviously felt the absence of Mark
Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand, who were both loaned to the national
team.
In the main tiff, Sta. Lucia and
Purefoods hope to enter the win column after failing in their first
two games.
The Realtors bowed to Air21 and
Welcoat while the Giants dropped their first two assignments at the
hands of Red Bull and Coke.
Meanwhile, San Miguel Beer tapped
Paul McMillan 3rd to replace Vidal Massiah, who failed to give the
Beermen a victory in two starts. McMillan will play on Saturday
against Coca-Cola on Saturday in Lanao del Norte.
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