Monday, October 13, 2008 Realtors ends TNT’s win streak
MANILA—Defending champion Sta. Lucia Realtors showed the form that won them the crown last year as they carved a 117-96 triumph over previously undefeated Talk ‘N Text yesterday in the 34th KFC-PBA Philippine Cup elimination round at the Araneta Coliseum.
Fil-Ams Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes led the Realtors’ fiery break away in the final half en route to their first win in two matches and snapped the Tropang Texters two-game winning streak.
“At least we are back now. It’s nice to win against Talk ‘N Text really. Our defense particularly against (Mark) Cardona and (Jimmy) Alapag worked well. That’s why we were able to contain their offense,” said the 34-year-old Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez.
Coach Fernandez, however, said they have still to make several adjustments to avoid a similar situation yesterday when they had to struggle in the first half.
“Bitoy (Omolon) and Kelly (Williams) played big tonight as we tried to give them good chances to shoot by providing proper screening,” said Fernandez, whose Realtors defeated Purefoods, 4-3, in the best-of-seven finals last year.
The game was actually tight only during the first half, but as soon as Williams, Reyes, Joseph Yeo and Omolon struck with big baskets in the third period, it was a lopsided match for the Realtors the rest of the way.
The Realtors even stretched the gap to a big 21 points, 107-86, on Yeo’s jumper with only 2:43 left in the game.
“I talked to Joseph (Yeo) yesterday and I gave him some good pointers because his performance in the first game was below par. And it did well for him now,” said Fernandez.
Top scorer
The 6-foot-6 Williams topscored for the Realtors with 25 points on top of 10 rebounds, five assists and a steal, while Omolon finished with 24 and Yeo had 18. Ryan Reyes added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Sta. Lucia.
Mark Cardona led the Tropang Texters with 19 points and 5 rebounds, rookie Jason Castro and Jimmy Alapag scored 14 points apiece, while Jared Dillinger had 11.
Both the Tropang Texters and the Realtors fought closely in the first two quarters of play that resulted to 3 lead changes and 5 deadlocks, the first was 5-5 with just 5 minutes into the game.
After Dennis Miranda shattered the tie, Harvey Carey scored back-to-back baskets that triggered a 7-0 run that moved Talk ‘N Text on top, 12-7, with still 4:55 remaining in the opening salvo.
But the Realtors, behind Joseph Yeo and Norman Gonzales retaliated with a quick 11- 2 run to grab the upperhand, 18-14, at the end of the first period.
The Tropang Texters and the Realtors were almost even in all departments of the match in the first half except in the free throw area, where the reigning titlist Sta. Lucia made a high 86.7 percent on 13 of 15 tries compared to only 42.9 percent for coach Chot Reyes team.
The most the Tropang Texters could lead was 8 points on Jared Dillinger’s three-point play and Yancy de Ocampo’s triple on top of the key, 35-27, still 3:25 remaining in the second canto. (FCC)
