By Reuel Vidal

IN basketball, size matters.

The Coca-Cola Tigers proved this once again as they relied on their advantage in height and heft to overwhelm the Barako Bull, 106-103, in the 2009 Motolite-Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome last night.

Coca-Cola import JJ Sullinger was thrown out of the game late in the third period after committing a Flagrant Foul 2, but it only fired up the Tigers, who had to rely almost exclusively on their behemoths—Asi Taulava, Mark Telan and Ricky Calimag —to score inside against the relatively smaller Energy Boosters.

“It was a total team effort,” said Coca-Cola coach Kenneth Duremdes. “Alex Cabagnot came up big for us. He set up our bigs with his penetrations. We also took advantage of the new hand-check rules. Buti na lang, we were able to adjust.”

The Tigers thus bounced back from their opening-game loss to tote an even 1-1 card.

Duremdes said he is optimistic that his team will play with more consistency and string together victories. However, he admitted that the team is at a disadvantage because of their poor showing last conference, which means they are bracketed badly and need to play stronger teams twice.

“Hopefully, ito ’yung mag-start ng streak,” said Duremdes. “Last conference, ’pag nanalo kami ng dalawa, natatalo kami ng dalawa. Kailangan namin maging consistent. Hindi dapat mag-relax. Last conference ninth place kami kaya ngayon nasa Group A kami. Lahat ng malalakas nasa Group B. Mas mahirap sa A dahil iyong Group B twice kakalabanin.”

Six Tigers chipped in double-digit scores. Ronjay Buenafe and Sullinger finished with identical 18 markers. Mark Macapagal had 16 points, while Alex Cabagnot and Telan had identical 14 points. Taulava added 13 points.

The Tigers came alive after Sullinger was thrown out late in the third period. They went on to post a 78-75 lead after the pivotal third period.

Barako Bull’s import Cornelius McFadgon finished with 29 points. Jeffrey Chan had 20 markers. But the rest of the team again could not deliver the points as the Barako Bull lost their second straight game.