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Pharex rose from the ashes
by Jonas Terrado (January 18, 2009)

On the brink of an early vacation, Pharex found a way to make a late surge to become the unlikely quarterfinalist of the ongoing 2009 PBL PG Flex Linoleum Cup.

The Generix reached the next phase of the season-opening tournament Thursday, when it came back from a 10-point third quarter deficit to oust Toyota Otis, 71-69, behind the heroics of Fil-am rookie Chris Ross, who exploded for 14 points in the second half to finish the game with 23 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in 37 minutes of action.

Ross, the top pick in September's rookie draft, hit the team's last four points, including a game-winning jumper off Bryan Faundo and Chris Timberlake with 4.1 seconds to go. He then took forced Timberlake to miss a runner at the last second to seal the victory.

"Our team just came together and we were fighting every game and I just don't want my team to go home early," Ross said.

Head coach Carlo Tan was glad to have his prized freshman stepped up big in the team's most important game of the tournament.

"Tough games bring out the best players and Chris stood out the best for us," Tan said. "The guy's a fighter, he's a competitor and he was inspiring."

Ross' heroics was a follow-up to his 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals as Pharex defeated third-placer Bacchus Energy Drink, 96-77, Tuesday. He played in all 12 games and averaged 12.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.1 steals during the elims.

Pharex faced a disastrous start, losing all of its first round assignments, mostly off blown double digit leads. But, the Generix started the second round on a high note, shocking league-leading Harbour Centre, 78-74, last December 11 but tumbled down to 1-7 following a defeat to Burger King.

"When we were faced with an 0-6 record, I was a realist," Tan said. "We have to take this usual 'one game at a time' cliché and somehow we did it and somehow we got it through."

But the Generix somehow managed to join the quarterfinal race after beating Hapee, Magnolia and Bacchus, respectively, as veterans Ian Saladaga, Ronnie Matias and JR Gerilla notched their games to another level.

Saladaga, a former star at University of San Jose Recoletos in Cebu, earned last week's PBL Player of the Week honors after scoring 21 points against Magnolia while the 6-5 Gerilla produced a career-high 24 points on a near-perfect 12-of-13 shooting in their win over Bacchus.

The lanky Matias, meanwhile, has produced 12.0 points and 7.5 rebounds during the team's last four wins. He scored 10 points and 10 rebounds against in 35 minutes versus Toyota Otis.

Pharex is scheduled to meet Hapee in the quarterfinals tilt at but they will have to win twice in order to reach the semifinals for the first time since the franchise joined the league two years ago.

"Hapee is a tough team, they got Jervy Cruz so we have to work on our post defense," said Tan on the matchup.

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