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| Champ Sta. Lucia keeps title hopes alive |
| Written by staff | ||
| Saturday, 24 January 2009 06:13 | ||
|
 Sta. Lucia just won’t yield its title that easy.The Realtors got back from a sloppy start and beat Alaska, 81-74, to cut the series deficit to 3-2 Friday night in the KFC Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup semifinals at the Cuneta Astrodome. Facing a do-or-die game against a ball club that was expected to deliver the knockout punch, Sta. Lucia rallied from an early 16-point deficit and then held the Aces scoreless in a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter to force a Game Six. Joseph Yeo scored 11 points each in the first and fourth quarters to finish with 22, Kelly Williams had 14, Dennis Espino collected 12 points and 15 rebounds and guard Ryan Reyes had 10 points and 10 boards to provide support for the Realtors. Dennis Miranda also had a big game despite only producing eight points. He had two key three-point baskets in the fourth quarter and was the one responsible for limiting Willie Miller to one of his worst performances in the series. Miller was held to a mere six points, shooting only 3-of-12 from the field. He only had two points in the fourth quarter, a runner when everything appeared settled with Sta. Lucia ahead by 79-74 with 28 seconds left to play. “As I’ve said, we’ll take this series one game at a time," said SLR coach Boyet Fernandez. “Alaska started strong, but the good thing was my players did not give up. And I salute them for that." “The only problem now is whether we can play another good game on Sunday. Pag maganda kasi ang laro namin sa isang game, sumasama ang performance namin sa next (If we played good in one game, we have a bad performance the next)." Sta. Lucia has not won back-to-back games in the series and defense, as usual, would eventually be the key whether it will drag the Aces to a tense and deciding Game Seven on Wednesday or whether it would end up as another ball club that failed to repeat as all-Filipino champions – a jinx that has now stretched to 23 years. LA Tenorio led the Aces with 17 points but was held scoreless in the payoff quarter while Reynel Hugnatan added 13 more. Sonny Thoss collected 10 points and 10 rebounds for Alaska, one of only two teams that had squandered a 3-1 series leads. In a see-sawing second-half contest, Sta. Lucia last allowed Alaska to lead at 72-71. Miranda then had his second triple of the night to make it 74-71 before Yeo connected on a step-back three-point shot of his own with 2:14 remaining as the Realtors took a 77-72 advantage. Williams then sealed the outcome with a basket, 79-72 with 38 seconds left before Miller had his connection that snapped a scoring drought since Hugnatan scored on two free throws with 3:54 left to play in the game. |
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