Just as Typhoon Mirinae (local name “Santi”) began unleashing its fury on Metro Manila, the Coca-Cola Tigers did pretty much the same thing against Purefoods, draining a flurry of three-point shots to topple the TJ Giants, 93-79, Wednesday night in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. It was the Tigers' first win in four games in the conference while the loss was the second for Purefoods in as many games. In the nightcap, the Santa Lucia Realtors drubbed the Burger King Whoppers, 101-93, for their third win in four starts to take the second spot in the standings behind the pacesetting Alaska Aces (4-0). The Whoppers absorbed their third loss against a single win, dropping them to ninth place, just ahead of the tailender Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (0-4). The Giants were ahead by 15 points in the third quarter and appeared headed for their third win in the conference. But the Tigers had other things in mind as they regrouped and fought tooth and nail to avoid joining the Painters at the bottom of the standings. Coca-Cola came into the game with the unenviable record of being the worst team in the league in terms of turnovers (27.7 average per game) and scoring (76). But the Tigers threw away the stats book in the fourth quarter as they finally unveiled their fangs in both offense and defense. Norman Gonzales, Dennis Espino and Wesley Gonzales took turns in leading the Tigers' fiery comeback from a 43-58 deficit. Suddenly, the Tigers waxed hot, shooting a sizzling 8-for-14 three-point shots and 21-of-24 shots from the free-throw line. They also outrebounded the taller Giants, 48-40, including a 21-15 edge on the offensive board, and committed just two miscues in the second half. Meanwhile, the PBA shook up the tournament when Commissioner Sonny Barrios decided to nullify the wins scored by three teams against the Smart Gilas guest squad and render all the remaining games of the developmental Philippine national team as no-bearing matches. Two options were earlier presented to Barrios by the PBA Board – either to render the Smart Gilas games as no-bearing or to bar the team's American import CJ Giles from seeing action in the team's remaining games. Barrios said he made the decision with the interest of the Philippine team in mind. “We recognize that CJ Giles is a very vital part of the national team, the reason why he is considered as a candidate for naturalization for Filipino citizen,” he said. The PBA Board made the recommendations following protests from teams about the benching of the 6-foot-11Giles in the Smart Gilas game against its sister team Talk N Text Tropang Texters last Oct. 21. Giles saw action for just five minutes in that game against Talk N Text, which won handily, 103-70. The representatives of the PBA teams immediately questioned the move by coach Rajko Toroman the following day. Following Barrios' decision, the games won by Talk N Text, Burger King and Ginebra over Smart Gilas have been nullified. The Texters and the Kings now have similar 2-1 (win
