Cola Tigers kept their hopes alive of taking an outright quarterfinals berth, mauling the Sta. Lucia Realtors, 87-76, Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum in the PBA Fiesta Conference. Gary David led the Tigers with 22 points while Dennis Espino was named Best Player of the Game, scoring 16 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Coca-Cola thus improved their win-loss record to 8-9, the same slate carried by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters which earlier came from 28 points down to defeat the Air21 Express, 113-111, on a putback shot by Ryan Arana with five-tenths of a second remaining. Coca-Cola and Rain or Shine will break their tie on Sunday when they collide to decide which team will forge a playoff with the Barangay Ginebra Kings (9-9) for the last outright quarterfinals seat. Arana's buzzer-beater came after new RoS import Rod Nealy missed a pull-up jumper with two seconds left. Making a smashing comeback to the PBA, Nealy led all scorers with 41 points, including 19 in the fourth period. He also pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds. Sol Mercado chipped in 19 points, Gabe Norwood had 15, while Arana came off the bench to knock in 13 points including the game-winner. Once again, Air21 suffered a heart-breaking defeat after taking a 28-point lead, 88-60, in the third quarter. But just as the Express were coasting along to victory, the Painters unleashed a furious 21-3 run in the final canto, grabbing the lead, 99-98, on a reversed slam by Norwood. There was no stopping the Painters from then on as they extended their lead to 111-105. Trying to recover their wits, the Express made one final push to regain the upper hand. Their import Leroy Hickerson scored on back-to-back baskets and Doug Kramer scored on an undergoal stab with 19 seconds to go to tie the count at 111-111. Rain or Shine elected not to call a timeout as Nealy, the former prized Ginebra import, attacked the basket but missed his shot. Fortunately, Arana was able to slip past the Express defenders to grab the ball and put up the winning shot before the final buzzer sounded. The Express (4-14) also squandered a 30-point lead against Talk `N Text last Nov. 29, 2009 and lost by 13 in the end, 118
