ANTIPOLO CITY, Philippines, 9 December 2006 — There was a time when Noy Castillo and Jun Limpot were franchise players.
Last night - even for a fleeting moment-they relived their roles and helped Purefoods bring down mighty Sta. Lucia.
Castillo and Limpot, the senior citizens in the lineup, scored eight of the Chunkee Giants’ final nine points in overtime to lift Purefoods to a high-wire 103-101 decision of Sta. Lucia in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations.
Castillo, the former The Citadel standout in the United States who was the second overall pick of Shell when he entered the league in 1998, knocked in back-to-back triples at the crunch as the Giants dealt the Realtors a third straight loss.
Limpot also had a crucial undergoal stab in the next play as Purefoods climbed into a fourth place tie with its victims at 9-6. The loss was galling for the Realtors, who have had at least a piece of the lead in the tournament until losing two straight prior to last night’s debacle.
Dennis Espino had a chance to win it for Sta. Lucia in regulation, but missed the front end of two free throws in the final 16 seconds, which would have given the Realtors an 89-88 lead.
Extension was forged at 88 after Kerby Raymundo missed a fallaway jumper at the buzzer in the next play.
The 5-foot-10 Castillo hit all of his 14 points in the second period, key contributions as the Giants kept the Realtors within their sights before Purefoods pulled all the stops needed to win in extension. Air21, meanwhile, got the goods from the De Ocampo brothers earlier as the Express nipped Red Bull, 92-89, to stay in the running for an automatic quarterfinal seat.
Yancy, the elder of the De Ocampos, finished with 20 points, including five straight at the height of a big Red Bull uprising as the Express improved to 7-8.
Red Bull dropped out of second spot with a 10-5 card.
Ranidel, on the other hand, added 14 and capped that big 9-2 counter-attack by the Express with an inside stab off a perfect feed from his brother as Air21 took a 90-81 lead.
But the Barako refused to just fold up, making one last push anchored on Mick Pennisi, who nailed a triple while drawing a foul in the process.
Pennisi muffed the bonus charity though, but Enrico Villanueva scored on a putback to put the Red Bull within striking distance.
The next plays turned out to be a defensive match with Yancy preserving the win in the end for the Express. After the Barako managed to put a stop against the Express in the final 32 seconds, acting coach Gie Abanilla sued for time and called for one last play.
Sending in Larry Fonacier, a deadshot from the perimeter, Abanilla had called for the former Ateneo ace to take the game-tying triple. Fonacier, the top rookie last year, was denied a pass from deep right corner and Pennisi became the recipient off an inbound pass from top of the key.
But Pennisi didn’t get a good look before the pass back to Junethy Valenzuela was deflected by Yancy as the Express preserved the win.
