STA. LUCIA HAS HAD ENOUGH OF ENDGAME COLLAPSES

Realtors dominate TNT from start to finish to barge into win column
Philippine Basketball Association website
Sunday, 28 October 2007
For Sta. Lucia Realty, twice losing a game on an endgame fold-up is just too much.

The Realtors finally found a way to finish a game Sunday night, scoring a wire-to-wire 97-87 win over the Talk N Text Phone Pals in the 2007-08 Smart PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

It was Sta. Lucia’s first win in the season after sorry setbacks to the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants and the Magnolia Beverage Masters in games they dominated early on only to blow away at the finish.

"That’s the main thing we talked about prior to this game – how to finish a game. We talked about it, we checked our mistakes and we executed," said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez.

"Hindi pa buo ang laro ng team. But I’m happy Marlou (Aquino) and Dennis (Espino) have been proving me right. I’m consistent in saying Marlou and Dennis are still the main men of Sta. Lucia. I think both are up to it," Fernandez also said, paying tribute to the team’s veterans.

The Sta. Lucia oldies ruled with Aquino logging 18 points, six rebounds and two assists and Espino adding six rebounds, three assists, four points and two blocks.

Seven-year pro Paolo Mendoza contributed four triples and a total of 18 points with the rest of the team having their share as they pounded Talk N Text’s shaky game, handing the Pals their second loss in four starts.

The Pals committed 31 turnovers – the most by any team this season. Incidentally TNT averaged only 17.7 errors in their first three games.

Jimmy Alapag, Jay Washington, Mark Cardona and Yancy de Ocampo finished in double figures but each one accounted for at least three errors.

The Realtors produced 29 points on those Talk N Text errors – certainly a big boost for the team which led from start to finish.

Sta. Lucia led by as many as 25 points before carrying a 70-56 spread over into the final half.

Washington hit his stride in the third quarter, pumping in 13 points to rally the Pals to within seven at 54-61, but Mendoza and rookie Melvin Mamaclay strung up three straight triples to defuse the tension.

Another rookie Dennis Daa and Aquino took over at the start of the final period and the Realtors stayed in firm control at 81-60.

Alapag had 14 points, two assists and two rebounds in the first half – numbers approximated by Ryan Reyes and Mendoza, who made 13 points and 12 rebounds together.

Reyes, however, hurt his foot and sat out the final half. (NC)

The scores:

Sta. Lucia 97 – Aquino 18, Mendoza 18, Williams 11, Omolon 10, Yeo 9, Daa 7, Reyes 6, Miranda 6, Espino 4, Mamaclay 3, Coronel 3, Gonzales 2.
Talk N Text 87 – Alapag 24, Washington 19, Cardona 14, De Ocampo 12, Ritualo 5, Billones 4, Aljamal 3, Taulava 3, Belano 2, Allado 1, Carey 0.
Quarterscores: 33-16, 52-35, 70-56, 97-87.