COCA-COLA COACH KENNETH Duremdes sat on the bench wearing sunglasses because of sore eyes.
He might have been better off covering them completely to avoid the sight of the Tigers collapsing in the stretch and Marquin Chandler dominating for Purefoods on both ends.
Chandler celebrated his return with 30 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks last night, leading the Tender Juicy Giants to a 92-85 taming of the Tigers in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum.
“That’s the reason why we patiently waited (for Chandler),” Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio proudly told sportswriters.
Chandler, a former winner of the Best Import award, did almost everything in the stretch for the Giants, highlighting his offensive show with a seven-point string to snuff the fight out of the Tigers and rise to 5-4.
James Yap scored 22 points, his only basket in the fourth quarter coming at the final 76-second mark, to make it 88-83.
Coca-Cola, which dropped to 2-6, was held to just two points in a three-minute, 13-second span when Chandler ran berserk to give Purefoods an 86-79 lead going into the final 3:31 from 76-77 with 6:16 to play.
Purefoods actually blew a 12-point second quarter lead and had to rally from three 10-point deficits in the third, using a 10-2 run to open the fourth period and regain the lead at 74-73.
Penny had 17 points to share scoring honors for the Tigers with Nic Belasco, who was tossed out in the final 36.6 seconds after a flagrant foul on Peter June Simon as Coca-Cola dropped to 2-6.
The scores:
First Game
PUREFOODS 92—Chandler 30, J.Yap 22, Adducul 9, Raymundo 9, Simon 8, Villanueva 5, Canaleta 4, Cruz 3, R.Yap 2, Robinson 0.
COCA-COLA 85—Penny 17, Belasco 17, Cabagnot 13, Taulava 12, Telan 8, Buenafe 5, Macapagal 5, Catli 5, Dimaunahan 3, Rizada 0, Avenido 0.
Quarters: 22-14, 45-41, 64-71, 92-85
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