Rookies power Tigers past Express for 1st win

Rookies Jai Reyes and Sean Anthony delivered the goods to help Powerade notch its first ever win in the PBA Governors Cup Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Reyes scored nine in a pivotal fourth-quarter run to end up with a career-high 14 points, while Anthony tallied 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Tigers’ 109-91 shellacking of the hard-luck Air21 Express. The Tigers are now 1-2 and won for the first time since losing their last five matches dating back to the Commissioner’s Cup. In all, it was only the franchise’s second win in its last 10 outings. “Most of the time, we really don’t believe that we can win," said Powerade coach Bo Perasol. “But we took it upon ourselves to push each other to the limit. I hope we can get our bearings back." The Tigers dropped a 16-3 run in the final 5:35 of the match, which Reyes highlighted with a huge three-pointer, to break free from an 86-86 count and take a comfortable 102-89 lead. Import Chris Porter paced Powerade with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while veteran playmaker Celino Cruz had his best game in a long while tallying 18 points behind a 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range. Air21 lost its third straight game to remain at the with a 0-3 record. Danny Seigle showed the way for the Express with 23 points and 10 rebounds before getting ejected out of the game for throwing the ball to a referee. The veteran forward got frustrated on a foul called against rookie teammate Elmer Espiritu with two minutes and three seconds left in the game. The Tigers were in the midst of their game-telling run when Seigle was thrown out, making things worst for the Express. Dondon Hontiveros added 13. His two free throws tied the count for the last time at 86. Import Alpha Bangura was again a big disappointment for the Express, finishing with only 10 points and was held to just four in the second half. – JVP, GMA News