PBA: Sta. Lucia Realtors 1 away from crown

February 24, 2008

Sta. Lucia Realty took advantage of a James Yap-less Purefoods TJ Hotdogs last night to move one win away from snaring its second title in franchise history with an 88-76 win in Game 5 of the Smart-PBA Philippine Cup Finals at the Araneta Coliseum.

With the 6-foot-2 Yap serving a one-game suspension, the Realtors, who found no need for a similarly suspended Joseph Yeo, proved too much for the Giants as they grabbed a 3-2 lead in the highly-emotional best-of-seven Finals.

Kelly, who was limited to 11.5 points the past two games, finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds for his 21st double-double this conference.

“It’s nice to be back again,” Boyet Fernandez, who is only in his second conference as Sta. Lucia mentor, said.

“I do credit this game to my players, even though we’re down, the spirit is high.”

Sta. Lucia, which has never tasted three straight losses this conference, won the first two games of this series, 109-97 and 112-101 before the Giants equalized in the next two meetings with 118-107 and 106-98 victories.

The win gave the Realtors two chance of earning their first championship in seven years after claiming the 2001 Governors’ Cup and they go for the first chance on Wednesday when they play the Giants again at 7 p.m., also at the big Dome.

But Fernandez expects a tough Game 6 with Yap returning in the game.

“Purefoods is a very strong team. We just have to come out strong,” he said. “I commend what they did tonight and we just have to play our game. We’ll take it one game at a time. We’ll be ready for him (Yap).”

Sta. Lucia was also without Yeo, who committed a Flagrant 2 foul when he hacked Noy Castillo with 17.4 seconds left in Game 4 which Purefoods won, 109-98.

But his absence was hardly a factor as the 6-foot-7 Williams, who was named Best Player of the Conference (BPC) last Friday, got solid backing from the rest of the Realtors.

Dennis Espino added 15 points while Nelbert Omolon and Marlou Aquino contributed 14 and 12 points, respectively.

The Giants actually started strong, leading by as many as 11 points, 37-26, on a lay-up by Romel Adducul with 4:21 left in the second period. But the Realtors cut the lead to 37-39 at halftime.

In the third frame, Sta. Lucia outscored Purefoods, 25-11, for a 62-50 lead entering the final canto.

A jumper by Paolo Mendoza gave the Realtors their biggest lead, 71-53, with 8:34 left in the game.

The closest Purefoods got was at 74-81 on a basket by Kerby Raymundo, who led his team with 20 points and nine boards, with 2:16 left.

The players who were supposed to step up in Yap’s absence failed to contribute, including Peter June Simon, who was held to only three points after firing 26 the previous encounter.

“Playing without James Yap is like running a marathon with one leg. We tried our best as humanely as possible but we came up short,” Purefoods mentor Ryan Gregorio said.

“This has become a James Yap series. James is a wounded warrior and his heart is bleeding right now. Kami ang pinarusahan because of the mysterious call of the refs,” Gregorio added.

The scores:

STA. LUCIA 88 — Williams 20, Espino 15, Omolon 14, Aquino 12, Mendoza 9, Reyes 8, Miranda 6, Coronel 2, Gonzales 2.

PUREFOODS 76 — Raymundo 20, Lanete 10, Castillo 9, Pingris 8, Yap R. 8, Evangelista 6, Adducul 5, Salvador 4, Sanz 3, Simon 3, Larong 0, Yee 0.

Quarters: 15-19, 37-39, 62-50, 88-76.

STA. LUCIA 15 22 25 26 — 88

PUREFOODS 19 20 11 26 — 76

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