MANILA, 4 November 2003 — The battle between the “big teams” came right after All-Saints Day. Still, Sta. Lucia Realty and San Miguel Beer did not disappoint.
The Realtors, banking on a big second half surge and a defensive gem in the dying seconds, escaped with a 93-90 win on Sunday night in what should have been a no-bearing game in the Samsung PBA Reinforced Conference.
Those crowd who flocked to the Araneta Coliseum received a nice treat when the two quarterfinals qualifiers put on a thrill-a-minute show, especially near the end.
Sta. Lucia used a rare 16-0 spurt bridging the third and fourth quarters to finally get out of a hole the Realtors dug themselves early on before parrying the Beermen’s comeback in the stretch.
Kenneth Duremdes, Jason Webb and Damien Owens took charge after the Realtors trailed by as much as 60-71, coming through with the decisive splurge that gave them a 76-71 lead they never relinq-uished.
But the Beermen made one last determined effort to turn the game around.
Three triples in the last two minutes had San Miguel within 88-92, with 26 seconds left, the last triple coming from Olsen Racela, who celebrated his 33rd birthday Nov. 1.
Webb had a split and Dorian Pe?a had a follow-up to trim the deficit to 90-93. But Kwan Johnson forced a shot and Belasco’s final attempt to send the game into extra period was foiled by Francis Adriano, who stole the ball from behind in the last four seconds.
The win was the 8th in 13 games for SLR while the Beermen dropped to 5-8.
“Every game counts,” said Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua, whose spirited words during a late third quarter huddle stirred up his charges from their stupor. “We have to prove to ourselves that we are ready for the quarterfinals.”
Lenny Cooke, a ball of unharnessed talent just needing to be tapped into, provided Purefoods with literally everything it needed to survive as the Hotdogs hammered a crucial 92-83 victory over Shell in the second game.
Cooke’s numbers were nothing short of monstrous.
He had 42 points, making half of the 34 shots he took for the night, and added 26 rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Two assists more and he would not have just assembled a triple-double, he would have also become the first player in recent memory to complete a 30-20-10.
“He was really awesome tonight. Before the game, he told his teammates ‘I have a long flight home and I don’t want to take it,’” recounted Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.
“We gave ourselves a chance but our fate is not in our hands. We still have to pray and pray really hard that Ginebra beats Alaska,” he added.
The Hotdogs stayed alive with the win, which gave them a possible playoff ticket. But to secure that ticket, Alaska must lose tomorrow against Ginebra. If the Aces win, then Cooke will need to book that flight home.
But at least, he bought a few more days to stay.
With Shell playing without import Jamal Kendrick, Cooke whaled at opponents down low, burying bank shots and plucking rebounds with relative ease.
“Things became easier for him because he just pounded away down low because Shell had no import,” explained Gregorio.
Andy Seigle and Gilbert Demape added 11 each for the Hotdogs.
Tony dela Cruz led Shell with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Mike Hrabak had a rare good shooting night, making 10-of-14 from the field for 21 markers.
Meanwhile, Red Bull Barako’s Willie Miller overcame Coca-Cola’s Leo Avenido 22-12 in the semifinals of the Ginebra-Purefoods King of the Hardcourt One-on-One tournament.
