Realtors score again

Victor Thomas dished out another remarkable double-double outing and his local teammates preserved his heroics as Sta. Lucia Realty scored its first Samsung PBA Governors Cup back-to-back wins, boosting its bid for the quarterfinals with an 80-71 victory over Alaska Milk last night at the Philsports Arena.

Coming off an 87-86 decision over the Coca-Cola Tigers last Palm Sunday, the Realtors stepped up their game further and dominated the Aces in posting their fourth win against the same number of losses.

Sta. Lucia’s victory muddled up the race for the quarterfinals as it forced a five-way logjam at fifth place together with Alaska, San Miguel Beer, the Airfreight 2100/FedEx and RP Hapee.

"Team effort kept us in the hunt for the quarterfinals. We had our best defensive effort this conference. And we also controlled the boards to trigger our offense," said Sta Lucia coach Norman Black.

"Contribution from our locals is the key. Without Dennis Espino and Marlou Aquino who are our most steady players, we need guys like Paolo Mendoza, Chris Tan and Gerard Francisco to step up. And they did again tonight," Black added.

True enough, the Sta. Lucia locals made their presence felt as they even took over in crucial stretches in the second half. Mendoza, Francisco and Tan combined for 11 points in a decisive 11-4 attack at the outset of the fourth quarter as the Realtors erected a 50-39 lead.

Then Francis Adriano fired seven points coming off the bench, including a booming triple that gave Sta. Lucia a 72-64 cushion entering the last three minutes of play.

The Sta. Lucia locals outscored their Alaska counterparts, 32-24.

The Realtors actually took control from the start with Thomas and import partner Mike Davis carrying the fight for the team in the first half. They combined for 29 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in the first 20 minutes of play that ended with Sta. Lucia holding a 39-33 lead.

Thomas finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Davis, who nearly figured in a fight with Don Allado early in the third quarter, slowed down in the second half and wound up with only 14 points. James Head had a mediocre debut but still paced the Aces with 24 points that went with eight rebounds and two blocks against seven turnovers. Ron Riley had more errors with eight although he contributed 23 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals.