Thursday, July 06, 2006
Giants win Game 1
Purefoods earned the early lead in the best-of-seven finals series of the Grand Matador Brandy PBA Philippine Cup as the Chunkee Giants salvaged the Red Bull Barakos yesterday, 101-97, in Game 1 at the Araneta Coliseum last night.
In the opening game, Mike Cortez made the big plays in the closing seconds as the Alaska Aces rallied past the San Miguel Beermen for a 102-95 victory and salvaged the third place.
In the main game, Purefoods squandered a 19-point second-quarter edge but recovered just in time despite main-scorer James Yap being out of action after committing six fouls with more than two minutes left in the final quarter as Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio’s role players stepped up.
Kerby Raymundo was the Purefoods’ most lethal weapon as he erected a new career high of 30 points in leading the Giants to the important series-opening victory. Yap, who committed his sixth and final foul with still 2:14 left in the game, chipped in 26 markers for the Giants.
Role players
But the biggest factor that worked in favor of the Giants were the big offensive games of their role players particularly Richard Yee and Peter June Simon, who both logged in double-digit scores in helping Purefoods turn back a searing Red Bull run in the final half.
Yee inked a double-double performance of 12 points and 13 boards, while Simon chipped in 11 points for Purefoods, which led the Barakos, 23-22, after the first quarter.
Purefoods’ biggest moment came in the second canto as the Giants employed their leech-like defense in totally ruining Red Bull’s offense as the former built a huge 53-34 edge at the half.
But the Barakos swiftly came back in the third as they equalized the count and eventually overtook the Giants at the start of the final canto.
Purefoods later re-acquired the edge in the last minute of the game as they dropped a short but telling 6-3 spurt that broke the game wide open.
In the other game, Cortez led all scorers with 25 points including 12 straight points in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter as he single-handedly rallied the Aces from an 84-89 deficit.
Alaska (102) – Cortez 25, Cariaso 24, Belasco 17, dela Cruz 13, Ferriols 7, Wilson 6, Laure 6, Thoss 4, Hawkins 0, Miller 0. San Miguel Beer (95) – Pena 22, Cablay 13, Adriano 12, Gonzales 11, Hontiveros 11, Racela 9, Calaguio 9, Noble 4, Lopez 2, Ildefonso 2. (JSV)
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