ANTIPOLO City, 22 May 2008 — Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio wasn’t kidding when he said that he’d like the ball in the hands of James Yap whenever crunch time comes, that letting go of the prolific Darius Rice for a role player of an import was the right thing to do.
Down by 17 at one point in the first half after Yap scored just two points, Purefoods last night came charging back like crazy in the final two periods with the former MVP leading the way, as the Tender Juicy Giants outsteadied Talk ‘N Text, 84-79, in the Fiesta Cup eliminations.
Yap went on to finish with 20 markers and Kerby Raymundo added 18 as the Giants snapped a two-game winning run by the Phone Pals in rising to 4-5 and staying mathematically alive in the race for outright semifinal seats.
Gregorio made a surprise move some two weeks ago, when he announced that he was looking for someone to replace Rice even if the reed-thin former NBA Development League standout was leading everyone in scoring.
“We need an import who would not want the ball in his hands that much, because we need to get James and Kerby their touches every game,” Gregorio had said in previous interviews in explaining his move to ditch Rice.
Last night, the youthful mentor was wearing a wide grin when he faced reporters, as if saying: “I told you so. When the going gets rough, we of course would like the ball to be in the hands of James,” Gregorio said. “ We never had that luxury with Darius, though he was that great player in his short stay here.
The victory was special, since the Phone Pals came into the game as one of the hottest teams in the tournament and with a chance to wrest the solo lead from idle Red Bull.
Instead, the Phone Pals dropped to solo second at 7-4 in this, their second attempt at getting the tournament lead for the first time under new coach Chot Reyes.
The Barako stayed on top of the heap with a 7-3 record, a slate which they will stake against dangerous Coca-Cola tomorrow at 4:50 p.m. also at the Ynares Center here.
Talk ‘N Text closed out the first half sitting on a 44-34 bubble. But the Giants, who won just two of their first six games with Rice in tow, slowly nibbled away at that gap and actually took a 64-59 lead into the fourth period.
Mac Cardona led the Phone Pals with 22 points, while import Aaron McGhee fired 15.
Air21 won a second straight game earlier, riding Arwind Santos piggyback in the fourth quarter on the way to a 96-90 victory over slumping powerhouse Magnolia.
Santos, who finished second to Sta. Lucia’s Kelly Williams in the Rookie of the Year race last season, scored 13 of his total in that stretch as the Express kept the Beverage Masters at bay to climb to 6-4 overall.
The loss was the fifth in 10 games for Magnolia, which has been on a roller-coaster ride all tournament long. The Beverage Masters still fell despite getting 29 points and 17 rebounds from import Jameel Watkins.
“We played tough defense against a very good offensive team,” said Air21 coach Bo Perasol, who has instilled a new defensive outlook on the Express. “We just hope to sustain this kind of game to improve our chances of making the playoffs.” Santos shoved the Express ahead to stay, his jumper with six minutes remaining pegging the count at 80-78, before scoring seven straight points highlighted by a tomahawk dunk that made it 87-80 with just under four minutes left.
