source: Nelson Beltran | philstar.com

Sta. Lucia rode the momentum of a come-from-behind win over Smart Gilas a week ago as the Realtors pummeled the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 93-72, in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Realtors raced to a 20-point lead at halftime and refused to slow down, checking a two-game skid and snapping the Kings’ three-game winning streak.

Kelly Williams, inspired by a new-born son, churned out a near triple-double job with 26 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists as the Realtors notched a fourth win against three losses.

“Kelly did a good job. He’s really inspired being a brand-new father,” said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez.

Ryan Reyes and Jason Misolas also gave the Realtors a huge lift as they frustrated Ginebra in a bid to catch up with the front-running Alaska team. The Kings suffered a second loss in seven starts.

Williams and his teammates torched the Kings with a 47.6-percent shooting in the second quarter to open a 50-30 margin spread at the half.

Williams had 10 points on top of six rebounds and six assists with Joshua Urbiztondo adding six points and three rebounds and Gabby Espinas chipping in five points and four rebounds as the Realtors got away with a big second-quarter onslaught, beating the Kings by 16 points in the period.

In the first game, Mark Yee came through with a career-best 19-point performance highlighted by a perfect shooting for 17 in the fourth quarter as Burger King snapped a three-game losing skein with a 106-97 win over Coca-Cola.

Yee, the first San Sebastian-Cavite product to make the pros, went three-of-three from the three-point area, one-of-one from the two-point zone and six-of-six from the stripe as he starred in a strong BK windup leading to the Whoppers’ second win in seven starts.

Ronjay Buenafe, playing against his former team for the first time, also had a 19-point showing, including 16 he made in a fiery 21-2 start by the Whoppers.

The Whoppers slowed down in the middle quarters but regrouped in the payoff period and went on to deal the Tigers their sixth loss against a lone win.

“It’s hard to break out of a slump. We’re struggling but hopefully this is one win which can bring back the boys’ confidence,” said Burger King coach Yeng Guiao.

“The Japeth (Aguilar) and Wynne (Arboleda) incidents affected us somehow. Hopefully, this game becomes the stepping stone for us to get back to our old selves,” Guiao added.

Yee, Buenafe and JR Quinahan combined for 5-of-6 three-point shooting as the Whoppers outgunned the Tigers in the final period.

“They played us with the zone for too long that we got comfortable with it towards the end. We couldn’t convert at the start and we had a problem stopping Dennis Espino and Alex Cabagnot. We solved both problems at crunch time,” said Guiao.

Yee, Buenafe and Quinahan knocked in a triple each in the last two minutes of play, fueling BK’s breakaway from a 93-all count.

Buenafe went on a scoring spree in the early going, making three treys, three twinners and a charity on perfect shooting for 16 points as Burger King took the half at 46-45. The former Emilio Aguinaldo College main man had 11 in their 21-2 start.

But Cabagnot, Espino, Ken Bono and Norman Gonzales joined forces to get the Tigers into the game, surging ahead at 45-44 with 50 seconds left in the first half.

The Tigers, still playing minus injured star Asi Taulava, stepped up their game in the second half, enjoying a nine-point spread at 58-49.

They closed the third period at 75-70 before slowly fading away.

Cabagnot scored a game-high 20 points with Espino, Marvin Cruz, Larry Rodriguez and Gonzales adding at least 11 apiece.

But the Tigers had no answer as Yee sizzled in the payoff period. The sophomore BK player improved his former career high of 17.

The scores: (1st Game)

BURGER KING 106 - Yee M. 19, Buenafe 19, David 17, Belga 15, Quinahan 9, Matias 7, Sharma 7, Lanete 5, Yee R. 5, Bilones 2, Williams 1, Aban 0.

COCA-COLA 97 - Cabagnot 20, Espino 15, Cruz 12, Rodriguez 11, Gonzales 11, Bono 6, Ross 2, Rizada 1, Calimag 1, Macapagal 0.

QUARTERSCORES: 29-20, 46-45, 70-75, 106-97.


The scores: (2nd Game)

Sta. Lucia 93 – Williams 26, Reyes 17, Misolas 12, Espinas 8, Yeo 8, Urbiztondo 6, Jaime 5, Pacana 4, Omolon 3, Daa 2, Aquino 2.

Ginebra 72 – Menk 14, Tubid 12, Intal 10, Cruz 8, Baguio 8, Helterbrand 5, White 4, Mamaril 4, Villanueva 4, Alvarez 2, Wilson 1, Kramer 0.

Quarterscores: 23-21, 50-30, 71-54, 93-72



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