BY NOLI CORTEZ

MAGNOLIA may have its sights on the future, but its past can still deliver in a big way.

Veteran Olsen Racela took charge when it mattered most as the Beverage Masters got back at the Welcoat Dragons 94-86 last night in the Smart PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

Racela, at 37 the second oldest player in the league, scattered 13 of his personal season-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, finally pulling Magnolia beyond the reach of tenacious Welcoat.

With fellow long-timer Danny Ildefonso and rookie Jonas Villanueva joining the fray there was no stopping the Beverage Masters from posting a 90-80 lead that set them on their way to avenging a 101-108 loss to the Dragons the first time they met.

"Olsen, he really came up and that speaks well of him. Pero ganyan naman talaga ang character ng mga beterano namin," said Magnolia coach Siot Tanquingcen after his team notched its second straight victory and improved to a 7-6 win-loss record.

"It shows na kaya pa nila (veterans)," he added. "It just tends to show na ang mix ng youth and veterans is good for our team."

Perhaps due to the absence of some of Magnolia's key players or its own determined bid to snap out of a foure-game slide, Welcoat lived up to its moniker and engaged the Beverage Masters in a nip-and-tuck affair for three quarters.

Then things simply fell apart for Welcoat in the wake of Racela's explosion and the team dropped to a 3-10 slate.

Lordy Tugade wound up with 19 points and his two three-point shots in the first eight minutes of the first quarter made him only the 13th player in league history to have at least 500 career triples.

Hardly felt by Magnolia was the absence of top scorer Danny Seigle (left calf injury) and Dondon Hontiveros (left ankle sprain).

"It's good for us to win even without Dondon and Danny S. It's good for the team, especially 'yung sa confidence nila Jonas, Chester (Tolomia), Wesley (Gonzales), the guys filling up the spot," said Tanquingcen.

Jameel Watkins added 17 points and a game-high 19 rebounds while Ildefonso finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, five of them defensive that put him just three shy of becoming only the 29th player in league history to have 2,000 such boards.

Corey Santee had 21 points and Jay-R Reyes 18 points and nine rebounds for Welcoat.

Tanquingcen said his team went into the game more focused defensively and that came to the fore after 15 lead changes and 13 deadlocks.