MANILA, 7 February 2008 — Sta. Lucia’s Boyet Fernandez said that playing this far in the Philippine Cup is a stage where he and his team could gain the respect they deserve.
They got it, from none other than Alaska counterpart Tim Cone, while moving to within a win of a first title series appearance since 2001.
“He coached a hell of a game,” Cone acknowledged, after his Aces were bled dry in the final half of the fourth quarter that led to a 95-90 Sta. Lucia victory and a 3-2 series lead in their semifinal match-up at the Araneta Coliseum.
The ultimate compliment came right after the final buzzer, when Cone went to Sta. Lucia’s side of the court to give Fernandez a hug and tell him that he deserved to win this game.
It ended a brewing animosity that started in the second game of the series, when Kelly Williams scored on a dunk that wasn’t needed which Cone and the rest of the team found disrespectful.
Cone had refused to shake Fernandez’ hand in each of the last three games prior to last night’s.
And smoking the peace pipe came when the Realtors blew a 17-point third quarter lead to trail only to regain their wits and outsteady the experienced Aces in one end-game to remember.
Purefoods also moved within a win of the best-of-seven title series, building leads of as many as 27 points in the first half before holding off a spirited Red Bull comeback for a 96-95 victory in the second game.
The Tender Juicy Giants used a 40-point opening period to seize control, riding the momentum of that the rest of the way to also go up 3-2 and push the Barako hard against the wall.
But the Giants needed a miss from the free throw line by Red Bull’s Junthy Valenzuela in the final 2.2 seconds to escape with the win and avoid being dragged into an extension.
Valenzuela, one of the steadiest players in the league from the free throw line, muffed the second of two tries which could have sent the game into an extension. It was his first miss in four tries in the game,
“Sometimes, I’m beginning to look for another job,” Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio said. “This is one of the most stressful, pressure-packed series I have been in in my career.
“I thought we buried them already.”
James Yap, with a hurting knee and all, paced the Giants with 25 points, 12 of them coming in the first quarter. Noy Castillo also scored 12 in the period after starting out at the off-guard spot.
Marlou Aquino was also excellent for Sta. Lucia, not only after providing 18 points off the bench, but some comic relief by scoring under the armpits of defenders in a bristling 20-4 windup to close out the second period.
Aquino scored 11 of his total in that span and boosted the Realtors to a 48-37 lead at halftime, one which they would bloat to that 17-point bubble after Mendoza connected on three straight triples entering the final 6:03 of the period.
But the Aces would battle back, as John Ferriols scored nine of his 13 in the fourth before fouling out and Miller and Aaron Aban combining for 17 in the third to set the tables up for one of the better finishes to a game in this series.
Cone, meanwhile, said the referees “did a pretty good job in making up” for their inconsistencies in Game 4, when they rewarded the Realtors with 39 free throws compared to their 23.
Team owner Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, in a text message sent to media, echoed his coach’s view that inconsistency among the refs has been the complexion of the series.
Kelly Williams, Sta. Lucia’s super sophomore, was grounded somewhat. But he made sure that the final three of his 13 points would come in a way it would hurt the most as three free throws shattered the game’s last tie at 90 with 24.8 to play.
Miller was again held to the minimum in the fourth period, that three-point play with 67 seconds to go proving to be his only contribution in the period. He has been held to a combined 12 points in the last four fourth quarters.
