MANILA, 19 April 2008 — Chot Reyes, ever the talker, said it right.
“We were able to get our way offensively against the best offensive team in the league,” Reyes said last night, just moments after steering his Talk ‘N Text squad to a 115-113 decision over Sta. Lucia that knocked the Realtors out of the solo lead in the eliminations of the Fiesta Cup.
“Sta. Lucia was giving up the fewest points and we knew we had to score in the 100s in order for us to have a chance at beating them,” the firebrand mentor added after getting a career-high 35 points from Mac Cardona and 29 points and 19 rebounds from import Aaron McGhee.
Cardona was in his elements early, shooting 13 of his total in the first 12 minutes to boost the Phone Pals to several 11-point leads. He did make some bad decisions in the second quarter though, a reason which Reyes said prompted him to bench the streak-shooting former La Salle ace in the second period.
“I sat him down in the second period because of a couple of bad offensive decisions,” Reyes explained. “He came back in the second half ready to play. That’s a good sign of the growth of this team.” And play Cardona did, especially in the stretch as he stung the Realtors with two teardrop shots the beat the shot clock each time for a 115-110 Talk ‘N Text lead with under 10 seconds left.
The win, the Phone Pals’ third in five games overall, also showed the character that the team has developed ever since Reyes took over before the start of the tournament. The Phone Pals came into the game smarting from a sorry loss to Magnolia last week.
For the Realtors, it was their first tumble in four games, one where they gave up more than 25 points compared to their league-leading average of just over 89 points per contest.
In fact, the Phone Pals were already past the 100-point mark when the game entered its final six minutes, proof that the Sta. Lucia defense, which won the Realtors the Philippine Cup two months ago, failed in this particular night.
Ali Peek also shone in the stretch, shooting six of his eight points inside the final three minutes, his last basket, a tip off a Cardona miss with 1:43 left, giving the Phone Pals a 111-104 bubble.
Coca-Cola made the most out of the Sta. Lucia loss by zooming to the top with an 82-81 decision of Barangay Ginebra in the second game also at the Araneta Coliseum. The Tigers, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped by Air21 also last week, played catch-up for all but the final nine minutes of the rugged contest, never looking back after Asi Taulava dropped a short running jumper for a 66-64 count.
Coca-Cola, which dealt the Gin Kings their fourth straight loss, even took an 11-point lead with 5:36 to go, but had to agonize in pounding out its fourth win in five games after scoring just four points the rest of the way.
In fact, Ginebra had a golden chance to snatch its first win at the buzzer after Ronjay Buenafe missed a layup in the final four seconds. But instead of calling for time, the Kings decided to go on transition, the time dying with the ball in the hands of Mark Caguioa, who paced Ginebra with 30 points.
Jason Dixon, despite having a difficult time against the bigger Ernest Brown of Ginebra, still paced the Tigers with 18 points, while Taulava finished with 17 and 11 rebounds to earn Player of the Game honors.
George Gervin Jr. was also effective with 14, hitting five straight points capped by a three-point play off Victor Pablo with 9:40 left which actually tied the game at 64 before that go-ahead Taulava basket.
