STANDINGS
W L
Coca-Cola 8 4
Red Bull 7 5
Air21 7 5
Talk 'N Text 7 6
Sta. Lucia 6 5
Alaska 6 6
Magnolia 6 6
Purefoods 5 6
Ginebra 4 7
Welcoat 3 9
GAMES SUNDAY (Araneta Coliseum)
4:30 p.m.?Ginebra vs Red Bull
6:50 p.m.?Air21 vs Sta. Lucia
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY -- With two of its injured stars watching from the sidelines, Magnolia rallied behind Lordy Tugade in the second half to pull off an 84-82 squeaker over Talk ?N Text in the Smart-PBA Fiesta Conference last night at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum.
Tugade scored on a layup with only 1.9 seconds left to cap the Beverage Masters? comeback from as many as 18-points down, 22-40, in the first half.
Aaron McGhee had a chance to turn the game around for the Phone Pals but missed a desperation trey at the buzzer.
Although in their uniforms, Magnolia stars Dondon Hontiveros sat out due to a sprained calf, while Danny Seigle rested a recurring foot injury.
Tugade fired 21 of his 29 points in the last two quarters as the Beverage Masters tied the idle Alaska Aces at 6-6.
The Phone Pals knotted the contest at 82 with 4.8 seconds remaining following a Mac Cardona hook shot and a McGhee drive.
Jameel Watkins also shot 21 points and grabbed 23 rebounds for the Beverage Masters.
Renren Ritualo and Jimmy Alapag scored 14 apiece for the Phone Pals, who slipped to fourth at 7-6.
Meanwhile, Red Bull tries to halt a three-game skid when it shoots for solo second against resurgent Barangay Ginebra at 4:30 p.m. today at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Barako dropped their last three games to settle for a three-way tie with Talk ?N Text and Air21 at 7-5 behind league-leader Coca-Cola.
Sta.Lucia, running fifth at 6-5, also hopes to turn its campaign around with new import Jamar Brown when it tackles Air21 at 6:50 p.m.
The Realtors lost two of their last three games with erratic reinforcement Wesley Wilson, who delivered a disappointing 10 points and six boards in their 82-74 setback against Purefoods last week.
Billed as a versatile big man, the 6-foot-9 Brown had seen action in Mexico, Spain, Argentina and Turkey after suiting for the Southern Colorado College in the US NCAA.
The scores:
MAGNOLIA 84 -- Tugade 29, Watkins 21, Cortez 9, Villanueva 8, Ildefonso 6, Racela 5, Peña 4, Gonzales 2, Pingris 0, Calaguio 0, Tolomia 0.
TALK ?N TEXT 82 -- Ritualo 14, Alapag 14, Cardona 12, Belano 10, McGhee 10, Peek 8, Washington 6, Carey 5, Allado 3, De Ocampo 0.
Quarters: 15-24, 32-44, 62-61, 84-82
