MANILA, 17 May 2007 — Derrick Pumaren said that the race for the outright semifinal seats in the PBA Fiesta Cup “is getting tighter.”
It’s mainly because of his doing.
Talk ‘N Text played heads up in the stretch last night and survived Air21, 116-115, that denied the Express a chance to share the lead and at the same time put the Phone Pals well within range to nail a Final Four slot automatically.
Yancy de Ocampo drilled in two straight three-pointers that restored order in the Talk ‘N Text offense late in the fourth, and Mark Cardona and JJ Sullinger combined for 13 points in the fourth period as the Phone Pals improved to 8-6. And that is just a full two games out of the lead being held by the Gin Kings, who just two weeks ago looked like sure bets to nail the first semifinal seat.
“Two spots are still open at this point after Ginebra lost those two games,” Pumaren said. “We know our immediate goal is to make the quarterfinals, and we have to secure that first before we think of anything else.
“But the race (for a semifinal seat) is getting tighter.”
The Phone Pals seemed out of it about three weeks ago, until they won four straight games and five of their last six since then.
Their victory last night also kept the Express within a full game ahead, the loss dragging Air21 into a second place tie with Red Bull and Alaska at 9-5.
De Ocampo also went on to finish with 25 points like Cardona, shooting nine of his total in the fourth period. Those two triples rallied Talk ‘N Text to a 108-106 lead after being 102-106 down heading into the final two minutes after a Shawn Daniels layup.
And after the Express had equalized for the last time following two Gary David free throws with 66 seconds left, Donbel Belano completed a three-point play off Mark Clemence Telan that shoved the Phone Pals ahead to stay, 111-108, 52.5 to go.
Triples by Aris Dimaunahan and Wynne Arboleda put the Express within what turned out to be the final score with two seconds left. David’s desparation heave from about 75 was just too hard to have a chance.
Sta. Lucia boosted its chances of advancing past the eliminations after fashioning out a 112-104 double overtime victory over Welcoat in the first game.
Norman Gonzales knocked in two key triples in the first two minutes of the second extension that snuffed the fire out of the hard-fighting Dragons as the Realtors won consecutive games for the first time and improved to 5-9. More importantly, the Realtors stayed well within the circle of teams that would advance past the playoffs as they doomed the Dragons to their 11th defeat in 14 games. “We’re aiming for fifth place (after the eliminations),” rookie coach Boyet Fernandez, who won back-to-back games for the first time in his young career, said. “If not, I’d still be happy for as long as we keep playing together.”
Fifth place after the eliminations would mean qualifying outright to the quarterfinals and avoiding the wildcard phase, an aim which Fernandez said is still achievable at this point if they can put a solid run together. “It’s still possible,” Fernandez said. “But we will take it one game at a time and see what happens.”
Jamaal Williams went on to lead Sta. Lucia with 37 points and 17 rebounds and Bitoy Omolon also had a double-double with his 26 and 10 before Gonzales’ 19 points.
Both teams came into the game hoping to ride the momentum of victories that snapped ugly losing spells.
The Realtors nipped Purefoods, 93-92, in a road game at the Ynares Center in Antipolo tomorrow and were really looking good, until late in regulation when things suddenly turned sour.
Welcoat actually had numerous shots at winning the game right there, but Denver Lopez committed two crucial lapses - near the end of regulation and the first overtime - which eventually cost the Dragons dearly.
Gaining possession with a good 11.5 seconds remaining and the chance to break an 89-all tie forged by Rob Wainwright with a triple entering the final two minutes, Welcoat put the ball in the hands of Lopez.
Lopez hesitated in attacking early, and the Realtors wisely used up their lone allowable foul after Lopez had dribbled out all but 4.5 seconds of the clock. In the first extension, Lopez missed a looping jumper inside the paint, and this led led to Jamaal Williams nailing a baby hook on the other end for the game’s last time at 97. Lopez also lost the ball while going on a drive in the next Welcoat play. Welcoat has Red Bull, Coca-Cola, Purefoods and Air21 remaining in its schedule, quite a formidable list of foes going into the homestretch of the elimination round.
