Tugade, who can hit it from inside and out, nailed back-to-back triples in the last two minutes, the last one giving the Thunder an 89-82 lead with only 52 ticks left. He finished with 18 points and six rebounds.
The victory was the 12th in 16 games for Red Bull, which came off a painful loss to Sta. Lucia Realty last week. The loss, on the other hand, was the fifth straight for Alaska, now even at 8-8.
The game took more than two hours to finish, being halted a couple of times as venue personnel had to mop the floor, made so slippery because of the humidity inside the venue. Late in the fourth quarter, action was delayed because of a frog that somehow leaped its way into the court.
The game was tied for the eighth and last time at 77-77 after Stephen Padilla of Alaska and Vince Hizon of Red Bull traded three-point bombs. Early in the fourth quarter, Mike Cortez and Willie Miller also traded buzzer-beaters from close range as the huge crowd roared in excitement.
Action resumes this afternoon at the Big Dome with Ginebra and Shell, sharing the cellar in Group B, facing separate opponents, and hoping to rekindle whatever is left of their quarterfinal hopes.
Ginebra, whose four-game skid has sparked outrageous calls for the ouster of coach Allan Caidic, takes on Talk N Text at 4 p.m. while Shell, also struggling for every victory, faces Sta. Lucia at 6:30 p.m.
Ginebra and Shell are down in Group B with 4-11 and 4-10 records, respectively, and with just a few more games left in their 18-game elims schedule, are bound to knock each other out along the way.
The 10 teams were divided into two groups, and only one team per group will be eliminated, with the rest moving on to the quarterfinals. In the other group, it’s Purefoods moving out with a 5-10 slate.
Despite controversies surrounding players Asi Taulava (citizenship) and Norman Gonzalez (alleged drug use), Talk N Text is having a great ride this conference, winning five games in a row before losing to FedEx just the other day.
Talk N Text has an 8-6 record to share the lead with San Miguel in Group A while Sta. Lucia is just a shade lower at 8-7, tied with Alaska Milk. Sta. Lucia will be a tough nut to crack today, coming off a big win over Red Bull.