The Philippine Online Chronicles

In PBA news, the Powerade Tigers subdued the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 111-103 to notch their first win in the 2010 PBA Philippine Cup. In spite of their recent roster and strategy changes, the Tigers had enough in the tank to pull off the victory.

In the second game, the Talk N’ Text Tropang Texters took advantage of the injuries of the star players of the B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados to beat them, 87-76. In a highly physical and intense match, the Texters pulled away late in the game to barge into the winning column.

In Asian games news, Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco believes that the Philippine contingent in the upcoming Asian Games is good enough to harvest at least four gold medals. The country looks to lean on its billiards, boxing, and chess teams in its bid to for a successful run in the quadrennial event.

Powerade outlasts Rain or Shine

Five new players and a new system didn’t seem to bother the Powerade Tigers as they easily beat the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 111-103 yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Tigers relied heavily on the scoring talents of veteran shooting guard Gary David who led the team with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Aside from David, swingman Mark Macapagal chipped in 19 points coming off the bench.

Center Rob Reyes, who was acquired from the Barako Bull Energy Boosters in a three-team deal, contributed 10 points in his first game as a Tiger. Meanwhile, rookie Sean Anthony had a solid outing by scoring six points while hauling down 12 rebounds.

The Tigers’ win put them with the Meralco Bolts who won against crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra last Sunday.

The Tigers’ change in style can be attributed to coach Bo Perasol who wanted to veer away from the half-court oriented style that they used extensively when Asi Taulava was still in their lineup.

With Taulava now playing for the Bolts, the Tigers can now rely on their quick guards and superb perimeter shooters to play an uptempo game.

The Tigers simply dominated from the get go. However, with barely six minutes remaining in the game, the Elasto Painters threatened by cutting down the lead to 7 points.

Macapagal immediately came to the rescue by leading the Tigers in a 9-0 run, putting away the Elasto Painters for good.

For the Elasto Painters, power forward Larry Rodriguez led his team by scoring 23 points and hauling down 10 rebounds.

Aside from Rodriguez, Doug Kramer also had a big night with 19 points while Gabe Norwood added 17 points on top of 7 rebounds.

Scores:

POWERADE 111 — David 25, Macapagal 19, Reyes 10, Lanete 10, Antonio 10, Ritualo 8, Espino 7, Anthony 6, Mendoza 6, Calimag 4, Gonzales 3, Laure 2, Reyes 1, Rizada 0.

RAIN OR SHINE 103 — Rodriguez 23, Kramer 19, Norwood 17, Mercado 14, Arana 10, Vanlandingham 6, Buguia 4, Jazul 3, Chan 3, Tang 2, Ferriols 2, Cruz 0, Ibanes 0.

Quarters: 30-28, 60-53, 87-79, 111-103.

Texters dominate injury-plagued Llamados

Despite a slow start, powerhouse team Talk N’ Text had enough ammunition in the end to beat the injury-plagued B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados to notch their first win of their 2010 PBA Philippine Cup campaign.

The Texters pulled enough stops late in the game to put away the pesky, but undermanned Llamados squad, 87-76.

In the first quarter, the Texters were trailing by as much as 10 points, 15-5. However, Jared Dillinger’s heroics in the second quarter were more than enough to put the Texters in command.

Dillinger scored 12 of his 18 points in the second quarter to put the Texters on top, 44-36 at the end of the first half.

Aside from Dillinger, power forward Harvey Carey contributed immensely by scoring 17 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. Jayson Castro added 12; Ryan Reyes, 12; and Larry Fonacier, 11.

With three of their best big men nursing various injuries, the Llamados were outscored by the Texters, 27-13 in the second period.

The Llamados were missing the services of Kerby Raymundo, Rafi Reavis and Mark Pingris.

In their absence, point guard Jonas Villanueva led the Llamados with 20 points. Reigning PBA MVP James Yap meanwhile chipped in 13 points while making three straight 3-pointers during one stretch of the third quarter.

With less than six minutes to go, Fonacier led a 5-0 run that was capped by a dagger 3-pointer to put the Texters ahead, 80-66.

However, the defending champions simply didn’t want to roll over and die. The Llamados made an 8-2 run courtesy of a jumper by big man Don Allado.

That would be the last stand of the defending champions. From out of nowhere, Dillinger made a daredevil drive to put the Texters ahead by 10 points, with less than one minute remaining.

Scores:

TALK N' TEXT 87 — Dillinger 18, Carey 17, Castro 13, Reyes 12, Fonacier 11, Aban 6, Peek 4, Williams 3, Alapag 3.

B-MEG DERBY ACE 76 — Villanueva 20, Simon 18, Yap J. 13, Salvador 9, Maierhofer 6, Yap R. 4, Allado 4, Canaleta 2, Timberlake 0.

Quarters: 17-23, 44-36, 70-59, 87-76

POC: RP will get 4 Golds in Asiad

Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco believes that the RP contingent to the 2010 Asian Games is good enough to haul at least four gold medals.

Cojuangco's assessment of the 233-strong delegation to the quadrennial event is that it is one of the country's strongest teams in years.

At the last Asian Games, which was held in Doha, Qatar, the country finished with four golds, six silvers and nine bronzes. Cojuangco thinks that this year’s delegation is capable of even surpassing that medal tally.

The country will once again rely on boxing, billiards and chess for the bulk of the medals. For years, these disciplines have delivered the goods to the country consistently.

Grandmasters Wesley So and Eugene Torre will be leading the 12-man chess team. Boxing on the other hand, will be spearheaded by Charly Suarez and Annie Albania.

Billiards meanwhile has the biggest potential of hauling medals for the country. The powerhouse team will be bannered by pool superstars Efren “Bata” Reyes, Dennis Orcollo, Roberto Gomez, Warren Kiamco, Rodolfo Luat and Rubilen Amit.

Despite Cojuanco’s optimism, he thinks that the teams’ “shortened” preparation might affect their results.