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Game of the Week: San Mig upsets Pharex with dela Cuesta on board
(April 7, 2008)

Remember Eric Dela Cuesta? The former sniper for teams like Blu Detergent, Montana Pawnshop, Cebuana Lhuillier, and recently with the RP-Harbour Centre squad?

Last April 3 at the air-conditioned Arena in San Juan, dela Cuesta resurfaced, leading San Mig Coffee to a razor thin 78-77 win over Pharex Medics in the PBL Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup.

It was a much-needed win for the Coffee Kings, who were looking to make it to the next round of the tournament with only six games left to play. After this week's games, San Mig (3-5) is behind Noosa Shoes (4-5) and Bacchus Energy Drink (4-6) but the win kept them closer to compete for a quarterfinal slot.

After trailing 40-36 to start the second half, dela Cuesta, who had a short stint as an import in Singapore, buried a three at the 7:42 mark, hit a two-pointer a minute later, and then got a pass from Leomer Losentes off a fastbreak to score a layup to give the Coffee Kings a 45-42 advantage.

With some help from reserves Losentes, Ramon Mabayo, and Mark Balneg, San Mig built a 53-46 edge with less than three to go in the quarter. But not soon after Pharex erased it in a cinch, using an 11-2 run during the stretch as Ian Saladaga scored four while Gester Ebuen made a putback to retake the lead, 57-55, entering the final canto.

It became a see-saw battle in the early part of the fourth quarter as the Carlo Tan-mentored Medics grabbed control of several short leads, even as the Coffee Kings tied the contest on a few occasions.

By the time the two-minute mark hit, the Medics were ahead, 77-74, but Bonbon Custodio split his freebies at the 1:32 mark off Jam Alfad. After Ronnie Bughao missed a long two, San Mig raced to the other end finding Neil Raneses for the game-tying driving layup with 63 ticks remaining.

On the next play, Bughao missed a three-pointer as a looseball ensued resulting in Saladaga fouling dela Cuesta with 49.9 remaining. Dela Cuesta, who had already four points in the said quarter, missed his first but drained the second, and the Coffee Kings were a point ahead.

After the two foes failed to convert, Pharex retained possession and with no timeouts, they looked for the win. However, Emerson Oreta bobbled the ball against dela Cuesta; a mad scramble ensued but Villamin retrieved the rock and found Ronnie Matias open on the baseline and sink the basket at the buzzer to end the game.

But the referees conferred and looked at the replay from a TV booth, so did everyone in the stands through a giant screen. The slo-mo showed that Matias still had the hand of the ball when the lights went off and the game ended in San Mig's favor.

"I would like to give it to them (Pharex), they really pushed us to the limit," said a much-relieved Koy Banal as he talked with a group of sportswriters in a small media room area. "This is the kind of game we need in order to improve."

Banal also commended dela Cuesta, who had 15 points, four rebounds, and shot 6-for-13 from the field, for his strong debut.

"He's a welcome addition. When I learned that he was available, I called him at nakita niyo naman ang ibinigay niya sa team," Banal added.

The Coffee Kings also had a game-high 19 points from Raneses, who scored 15 first-half markers while also tallying eight rebounds.

Pharex, who had 18 points from Saladaga, 16 by Matias, and 10 from Bughao, dropped its second straight to drop to 5-4 for third position.

With dela Cuesta's addition and a big win, it's an interesting next two games for the Coffee Kings, as they aim at cracking down on both Bacchus and Noosa, respectively, in order to enter the top six.

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