Philippine Sports News and Updates

Brunei-The Sta. Lucia Realtors weathered a strong charge by the Darwin Airport Resort All-Stars in the second half for a 62-59 victory Saturday night in the semifinals of the Brunei Cup basketball tournament at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex.

Import Anthony Johnson had a terrific night with 21 points and Marlou Aquino, Dennis Espino and rookie guard Ryan Reyes preserved his effort with splendid all around games that set up the Realtors for championship showdown with South Korea’s LG Sakers on Sunday.

The Sokors reached the finals by repeating over the Singapore Slingers, 81-71.

Sta. Lucia fourth consecutive win in as many nights pulled the inspired Realtors to within a victory of becoming just the Philippine Basketball Association team to rule this tournament now on its seventh year.

Interestingly, the Realtors are playing without Fil-Am workhorse Kelly Williams, who had requested for a much-needed vacation after his stint with the RP Team in the FIBA Asia Championship.

"The team played four quarters of aggressive basketball defensively and offensively," proclaimed Sta. Lucia team manager Buddy Encarnado during an overseas call after the match.

Two free throws by Espino in the closing seconds capped the Realtors sweet revenge over the tall and hefty Aussies, who dealt Sta. Lucia its only loss so far  an 82-67 rout last Sunday.

Encarnado said Johnson and Espino were in their usual steady selves while Aquino took away the game of Darwin 6-foot-11 center, in the process, making it a lot easier for the Realtors to play under the lane.

"Reyes also proved his worth with his superb orchestration of our plays," Encarnado said.

A victory by Sta. Lucia on Sunday will preserve the Philippines dominance in the tournament. Team Pilipinas, represented a PBA players, topped this event the last two years.

Sta. Lucia led by seven points at halftime but the Aussies picked up their rhythm in the second half to make it an exciting match.

The Aussies were trailing by just 59-60 with time winding down but Espino drew a foul with 5.3 seconds remaining.

The Sta. Lucia skipper sank both his free throws and the Realtors quickly got down defense and denied the Aussies a decent attempt from the threepoint range to the delight of a big Filipino crowd.

Source: Manila Bulletin