MANILA: Purefoods didn’t need a last-second jumper this time, but its repeat victory over Talk ‘N Text was just as exciting.
The Tender Juicy Giants fought back like crazy last night, erasing a 17-point third quarter deficit before rallying mightily from eight points down inside the final three minutes to pound out a 96-93 victory over the Tropang Texters in the Philippine Cup.
That win stopped a two-game slide and put the Giants back in the outright playoff hunt at 8-9 while denying the Tropang Texters the chance to grab the solo lead and possibly the second outright semifinal berth.
Talk ’N Text, which saw an end to its four-game winning run that started three weeks ago, dropped to 9-7, now tied with two others for second place behind Alaska’s 10-7 card.
“It was a big win, considering all the circumstances,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio, whose 87-86 victory over the Texters in the first round was made possible by a buzzer-beating jumper from Chico Lanete.
Last night’s game marked the return of Rommel Adducul into the Purefoods lineup. The 6-foot-5 center from Tuguegarao made his first appearance on the bench after extensive chemotherapy sessions because of nasalpharynx cancer.
“His presence on the bench alone is enough inspiration for us,” Gregorio explained. So inspired were the Giants that they played without letup, as James Yap and Enrico Villanueva combined for the team’s final nine points inside the final 80 seconds, with Villanueva sealing the deal with a rim-rattling, two-handed tomahawk in the final 5.8 seconds for the final score.
Yap finished with 25 points, including a huge triple from top of the key that shoved the Giants to within 90-91, heading into the final 1:20. And after Mac Cardona missed a harried jumper for the Texters on the other end, Villanueva scored on a followup of a Kerby Raymundo miss with 40 seconds left to shove the Giants ahead to stay.
Also keeping an outright playoff berth within reach was Sta. Lucia, whose coach, Boyet Fernandez, did not talk about defense for the first time after winning a game. The Realtors didn’t have to play so much of that anyway as Coca-Cola played without its top three players in the first game and proved to be easy prey in an easy, 90-69 win over the short-handed Tigers.
Nic Belasco joined Asi Taulava in injured bay, and Alex Cabagnot suited up but was not utilized because of a recurring back injury as the Realtors broke away early and were never threatened in improving to 9-8 overall. Sta. Lucia broke into the magic circle of five teams with the win, they the only ones assured of outright playoff slots, with the top two going to the Final Four without a sweat and the next three advancing to the quarterfinals.
It was the second straight win for the Realtors, the defending champions here, who have played this tournament in a roller-coaster way.
Coca-Cola, on the other hand, will be hard-pressed to cling on to the No. 9 spot for the last berth to the wildcard with its vaunted trio not expected back anytime soon.
Red Bull, idle and winner of its last two games, could prove to be the biggest beneficiary of the Coca-Cola loss, with the Barako still to face the Tigers in this round before closing out against the Realtors.
Nelbert Omolon engineered the Sta. Lucia breakaway with 11 of his 23 points in the first quarter as the Realtors played with total command against a Coca-Cola side that couldn’t find any heroes this time. The Tigers were led by Mark Clemence Telan’s 20 points, but only John Arigo and Ricky Calimag were able to score in twin digits.
