MANILA, 23 April 2004 — Derrick Brown exploded 38 points to lead his new team the Sta. Lucia Realtors to a 99-90 victory over the Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs, the team that rejected him and took in Eddie Elisma instead, in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.
Brown outscored Elisma, 38 points to 19; outrebounded him, 15 rebounds to 14, and even had more assists, 6 assists to Elisma’s one.
The Realtors, who had lost five straight games in one disappointing stretch, are now back in the thick of things with a 4-7 (win-loss) record. The same cannot be said of the Hotdogs who lost their’ fourth straight match and dropped to 3-8.
The Realtors relied on a swirling 15-2 finish to break an 82-all deadlock with 3:25 to go in the game to finish pulling away.
Purefoods appeared headed toward a trouble-free finish when Paul Artadi scored on a fastbreak play that gave the Hotdogs a 73-60 lead, 1:23 before the end of the third canto.
But the Realtors did not give up. Import Derrick Brown keyed a 14-5 exchange from a 73-68 deficit going into the fourth quarter that handed them an 82-78 advantage, under four minutes remaining.
The best the Hotdogs could do from there was tie the score at 82-all, 3:25 left in the game, but the Realtors responded with a 9-0 salvo that settled the issue, 1:46 remaining.
Brown led the way with 38 points and 15 rebounds in 38 minutes of play, while Dennis Espino backed him up with 21 and Paolo Mendoza added 16. Marlou Aquino was also in double digits with 10. Kenneth Duremdes had a cameo appearance and was good for four points. Chua said the 6-3 flyer would be able to regain his old fiery self by the time the first phase of the eliminations are over.
In the other game, Art Long found a match in Jameel Watkins but San Miguel got a big help from the locals as it survived a hard-fighting Shell side, 88-85, for its 10th win against 11 matches.
It was the Turbochargers’ seventh setback against four triumphs to join the Realtors at No. 6. Dale Singson also had sweet revenge against the Turbochargers, a team that released him for Billy Mamaril. Singson unloaded all of his 11 points in the second period to lead the Beermen to a rousing 42-27 lead with 6:40 to go in the first half.
The Beermen wound up with a 48-38 halftime lead, an advantage they never relinquished. But they did have anxious moments.
Looking at an 87-76 bulge with 3:07 to go in the game the Beermen were outscored by the Turbo Chargers 9-0 as Shell cut the Beermen lead to only two points, 87- 85.
Shell had a chance to win or send the game into overtime but Ferreria missed a running jumpshot from less than five feet from the goal and Ildefonso finalized the count, 88-85, on a split free throw. Shell had the final shot to tie and send the game into extra period, but Jameel Watkins, of all people, threw up an airball when he tried a three-pointer.
“It’s getting tougher every game,” said San Miguel Beer coach Jong Uichico. “Every team is getting better and better. It’s still only the elimination phase. Ten wins does not get us into the quarterfinals.”
Ronald Tubid scored a career high 25 points but it wasn’t enough to offset the balanced scoring of the Beermen who had six players scoring in double figures. A seventh, Danny Seigle had 8 markers.
