WHEN Coca-Cola plays its second game in three nights, redemption will be top priority for the Tigers, who squandered a golden opportunity Wednesday and lost their grip on first place.

                Their current position doesn’t require the Tigers to press the panic button. But the urgency to win has somewhat become a sacred task for the Tigers, who are aspiring to make the playoffs.

                Tonight’s game will be a good test of character for the Tigers, who haven’t lost back-to-back games in the 2008 Philippine Basketball Association-Smart Fiesta Cup.

                It’s interesting to see, though, how they handle disappointment.

                The Tigers rallied from a 30-point deficit on Wednesday and were on the brink of completing an amazing comeback, but came up short in the closing minutes of a 91-99 loss against the Alaska Aces.

                That cost them to relinquish the coleadership with the Red Bull Barakos (7-2), and the Tigers fell into a tie for second place with idle Talk ’N Text Phone Pals (6-3).

                The Tigers’ 4:50 p.m. engagement at the Araneta Coliseum will be a rematch against the Air21 Express—one of only three teams with a winning record against Coke this conference. Air 21 dealt Coke a 102-95 decision in their first meeting on April 13.

                Their desire to get even and to redeem themselves from Wednesday’s botched job serves as a great source of motivation for the Tigers, whose next schedule will be on Friday next week against the Barakos.

                The other duel between the Purefoods TJ Giants and the Magnolia Beverage Masters at 7:20 p.m. also promises to be a hell-of-a-leather encounter.

                Both teams are surprisingly struggling this conference, and unless they start playing consistently, either or both could miss the playoffs.

                Magnolia holds a 4-4 record and has lost two of its last three games, including a 92-106 defeat against Coca-Cola on Friday.

                With a new import in Rada Rhalimi, Purefoods (3-4) has snapped a three-game losing skid with an 88-78 win over Alaska on Saturday that should boost the Giants’s confidence coming into tonight’s game.

Harbour sweeps into finals

Jason Castro starred in Harbour Centre’s 73-69 win over San Mig Coffee and the Batang Pier completed a sweep of their best-of-three semifinals in the 2008 Philippine Basketball League (PBL) Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup Thursday at the Muntinlupa City Sports Center.

Tañamor faces guys he has fought before

Harry Tañamor, the country’s lone bet in the 2008 Olympics, will be seeing familiar faces when he plunges into action in the August Games in Beijing.

BAGUIO CITY—Kat Gonzales slowed down but Claire Ong and Beachie Abiera picked up the slack as Manila Southwoods-Masters kept the premier Group I title of the fifth Asian Ladies Team Championship Thursday at the Camp John Hay Golf Club course.

THE De La Salle Green Archers are in deep preparations for the coming University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) wars, and they’re in the familiar position of opening the campaign as the defending champions.

WHEN Coca-Cola plays its second game in three nights, redemption will be top priority for the Tigers, who squandered a golden opportunity Wednesday and lost their grip on first place.

Leo Oracion, the first Filipino to summit Mount Everest in 2006, flew in recently from Nepal accompanied by two local mountaineers after scaling the 6,189-meter Island Peak in Imja Valley in Khumbu, Nepal, on April 18.

EXECUTIVE Secretary Eduardo Ermita formally swore in Atty. Jose Ferdinand Rojas II as chairman of the Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) in an early-morning simple ceremony Thursday in Malacañang.