MANILA, 6 July 2006 — Ryan Gregorio did not offer any explanations, only the good words for his Purefoods Chunkee Giants who fought with a lot of heart.
After blowing a 19-point first half lead, Purefoods erased a small deficit early in the fourth and played with so much steadiness in the stretch to eke out a 101-97 victory over Red Bull at the start of their best-of-seven series for the PBA Philippine Cup.
“It doesn’t really matter whatever lead we lose as long as we’re up there after 48 minutes,” the youthful Purefoods mentor said, not bothering to talk about a third quarter collapse that had them losing a 53-34 lead after two periods.
Kerby Raymundo capped a career-high 30 points with a jumper in the face of Enrico Villanueva with 30.9 seconds left, shoving the Giants on top to stay, 99-97 as Purefoods not only took a 1-0 lead in the series but gained a huge edge in the psychological side of the war.
James Yap hit 11 points in the fourth quarter, leaving an indelible mark in the first game of the series which Purefoods threatened to run away with until the Barako played near-perfect ball at the start of the second half.
Red Bull actually failed to nail a bucket in its last five possessions, none bigger than the wide-open short stab that Cyrus Baguio had inside the final 10 seconds which could have cut the Purefoods deficit to within one.
The last time the Barako were in the lead was at 97-94, when Junethy Valenzuela, the man chiefly responsible for Red Bull getting this far, nailed a three-pointer with 1:57 left.
But that was the last time that Red Bull would score, as Richard Yee, a role player who finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds, wiped out the deficit just as quick by completing a three-point play on the other end off Mick Pennisi with 1:44 to go.
Lordy Tugade actually matched Raymundo’s total, presiding upon a fiery third quarter splurge that had Red Bull tying the game at 66 with still over five minutes left.
That 32-13 run had Tugade shooting 18 of his total built around two triples and a 6-of-7 shooting from the field. And it looked like Red Bull had completely turned the tide, most especially after taking a 78-72 lead early in the fourth quarter.
But Purefoods showed a lot of character with Raymundo, who is one of the leading candidates for the season’s Most Valuable Player award, and Yap refusing to give up.
Yap went on to finish with 26 points, while Villanueva tallied 25 points for Red Bull, which will try to avoid falling into a 0-2 hole tomorrow when the series resumes at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Though obviously still in pain after failing to make the Finals, Alaska won the battle for the crumbs earlier, breaking away in the final three minutes for a 102-95 decision of San Miguel.
The win, the first for the Aces in almost two weeks, and the first since Alaska failed to close out Purefoods despite a 3-1 lead in their semifinal series, was the franchise’s 13th third place finish.
