Bleeding over for Pals; 'Masters' survive Tigers

Bleeding over for Pals; 'Masters' survive Tigers


Source: www.journal.com.ph

REN-REN Ritualo drained a double-pump jumper with 6.4 seconds left, and then Talk ‘N Text’s defense pulled through when it counted most as the Phone Pals snapped an alarming 5-game losing streak last night, holding off Purefoods, 102-101, in the Smart-PBA Fiesta Conference at the Cuneta Astrodome.

The Phone Pals lost a 7-point lead in the last 1:53. But Ritualo was there to the rescue, barely beating the shot-clock and knocking in the winning basket despite an honest-to-goodness defense from Roger Yap.

The Giants still were left with plenty of time to steal the game, and devised an offense built around James Yap, a play similar to the one when Purefoods beat Red Bull in its previous outing on the 2006 MVP’s fallaway jumper with 0.7 seconds to go.

But Talk ‘N Text import Terrence Leather took the former MVP on the defensive end. James Yap took the inbounds pass from Roger Yap and drove to the basket, but deferred attempting and instead opted to dish off a pass to Roger Yap who was at the left corner.

Roger Yap made the attempt but was partially blocked by Ali Peek, the ball rolling into the shaded area as time expired.

“Well, it was a strategy that worked for us,” said Talk ‘N Text coach Chot Reyes of his decision to assign Leather on James Yap. “Kung binigay nila yung play kay Kerby (Raymundo) o hindi kaya kay (Reda) Rhalimi, then patay naman kami sa ilalim."

In the second game, Magnolia survived a furious rally by Coca-Cola in the endgame to eke out an 81-77 victory.

The Beverage Masters now improved to a 9-7 win-loss record tied with the Tigers.

Lordy Tugade was named Best Player of the Game, finishing with 14 points -- including the game-winning free throws -- to pace the Beverage Masters’ second straight victory.

The scores:
Talk ‘N Text (102) -- Leather 39, Cardona 17, Ritualo 16, Peek 10, Alapag 9, Carey 4, Allado 4, Belano 3, Washington 0, Chia 0, De Ocampo 0.
Purefoods (101) -- Rhalimi 21, Simon 19, Yap, J. 17, Villanueva 11, Lanete 10, Raymundo 9, Yap , R. 8, Evangelista 8, Salvador 0.
Quarterscores: 21-27; 41-50; 78-76; 102-101.

Magnolia (81) -- Tugade 14, Pena 13, McCaskill 12, Ildefonso 11, Pingris 10, Seigle 9, Racela 5, Hontiveros 5, Cortez 2, Villanueva 0.
Coca-Cola (77) -- Catli 17, Dixon 15, Taulava 15, Cabagnot 12, Copeland 9, Buenafe 6, Belasco 3, Calimag 0, Arigo 0, Telan 0.
Quarterscores: 17-19, 32-27, 59-58, 81-77.