BY NOLI CORTEZ

A DIMINUTIVE Coca-Cola player with a very familiar name made Magnolia pay dearly for overlooking him last night in the Smart PBA Fiesta Conference.

George Gervin Jr. scored a career-high 35 points while the Beverage Masters were so focused on containing Coca-Cola’s other import, Jason Dixon, leading the Tigers to a 106-92 victory and a share of the lead at the Araneta Coliseum.

The reed-thin son of the NBA great, standing just 6-foot-2, scattered at least seven points in each quarter and got ample help from Asi Taulava and Ronjay Buenafe during a decisive fourth quarter run that broke the game wide open.

They also helped overcome Dixon’s career-low seven points and, along with a sterling second half defense, pointed the Tigers to their sixth win in eight games and a slot alongside erstwhile solo leader Red Bull.

"They (Magnolia) went into the game with the mindset of taking Dixon out of game, but everybody else contributed," said Coke coach Binky Favis. "This win is a credit to everybody."

He was most pleased with Gervin, whose previous career-high was 26 set in his league debut April 13 and went into last night’s game averaging just 16.8 points a game.

"It seems there’s no need for us to bring (Calvin) Cage back in, the way he’s (Gervin’s) been playing," said Favis, referring to their original shorter import who got injured in their tournament-opener last March 29.

Purefoods hopes to arrest its slide when it parades a new import against an Alaska crew that is also reeling in an out-of-town game at the Calape Sports Center in Bohol.

Making his Philippine debut is Reda Rhalimi, a 7-foot, 265-pound Moroccan national team member who arrived last Thursday to replace the ball-hogging and defense-deficient Darius Rice.

The Giants need all the help they could get as they have dropped to a 2-4 slate after losing three straight, the same as the Aces (2-5).

Rhalimi last saw action for the PAOK club in the Greek Division I league, where he averaged 10.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 16.3 minutes of action per game.

Magnolia engaged Coke through 11 deadlocks and 14 lead changes but got left behind for good when it shot only 13-of-41 in the last two quarters, including just 6-of-22 in the fourth.

Before the Beverage Masters knew it, they were staring at an 80-100 deficit. Not even triples by Lordy Tugade, Wesley Gonzales and Chris Calaguio in the final three minutes could bail them out of the rut.