MANILA, Philippines - Burger King cut loose from a see-sawing game with a closing 17-2 run in the first half and sustained its pace en route to a runaway 127-109 rout of Coca-Cola in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum last night.
The Whoppers stormed ahead, 61-52, at the half and never looked back, making it 3-0 over the Tigers in their head-to-head duels in the season and 11-2 dating back to the 2006-07 campaign.
Shawn Daniels continued to dominate the boards, leaving the offensive chores to the locals as Burger King notched its fourth win against two defeats in the tourney.
The Tigers, on the other hand, fell to their third straight setback and fourth in five games despite drawing another huge numbers from import J.J. Sullinger.
“We’re opposed to the trend. While the other teams have high-scoring import, we have Shawn who’s basically a blue-collar worker who rebounds and defends. He gets his teammates involved that’s why the locals are playing so well. And we rather have it that way. After all, it’s a team game,” said Burger King coach Yeng Guiao.
Gary David, Arwind Santos and Cyrus Baguio all dished out 20-point games with Beau Belga and Wynne Arboleda backing them up with a combined 23-point output as the Whoppers scored a big follow-up to their 123-110 win over Barako Bull Wednesday in the same venue.
“We rode the momentum from the last game. We’re lucky to play back-to-back games with the momentum on us. Our big win the last time helped us a lot tonight,” said Guiao.
“Things are looking good for us. We’re trying to get the best record we can before our Holy Week break. It’s a long break. We can try to get another one on the 25th (against Rain or Shine),” Guiao added.
The Tigers, on the other hand, hopes for James Penny to end his engagement soon in the Mexican league. Sullinger is Coca-Cola’s sub import while awaiting for Penny’s availability.
Coca-Cola has lost its last three games to Talk n Text, San Miguel and Burger King by an average of 18.3 points.
The Tigers and the Whoppers were engaged in a nip-and-tuck battle before Burger King came through with a 17-2 run to close the first half at 61-52 in their favor.
Santos had a hand in that decisive salvo and also had his contributions as the Whoppers poured on the heat in the third period, padding their lead to 102-80.
“I don’t want to speak too early but Arwind is shaping up early as MVP contender,” said Guiao of the Burger King top gun.