MANILA, 3 March 2008 — The team so few believed in just provided the perfect ending to a Cinderella season.
Sta. Lucia ended its fairy-tale campaign in the Philippine Cup with a masterful 100-88 Game 7 victory over Purefoods last night after getting the goods from Dennis Espino in the stretch before more than 18,000 screaming fans at the Araneta Coliseum.
Espino finished with 29 points and provided the perfect highlight to his career, one which lacked that true heroic moment — 13 years after it started. The 6-foot-6 team captain canned four crucial baskets in a 13-2 run that told the story, scoring them inside the final 5:48 as the Realtors raced to a 92-82 lead with 1:49 to go from a 79-80 deficit.
He had a total of 22 points in the final two quarters and 10 in the fourth period, as the savvy of a veteran finally showed which towed the Realtors to just their second championship in franchise history and first all-Filipino crown. The tournament was special, even before the Realtors wrapped up the best-of-seven series, 4-3, since many firsts were accomplished by this squad which was labeled a fluke even after qualifying as the No. 2 seed to the semifinals.
Sta. Lucia won eight straight games for the first time in franchise history and made the semifinals outright for the first time since joining the league as an expansion club in 1993 with a team built around Jun Limpot.
Kelly Williams then became the first Realtor to win the Best Player of the Conference award and Espino bagged the Finals MVP trophy for the first time in his career via a close margin.
“Credit goes to my players for working so hard for this championship,” coach Boyet Fernandez, who won his first championship in 12 years as a player and coach, said.
