Reunion has it all: pride, drama, thrill

For 48 minutes, they relived an era long gone and showed why it was such an enduring rivalry.

They showed it all, the pride and deep-seated desire not to lose, not to this one rival despite the years.

And time didn’t seem to heal the old passion so liberally given in their prime and that made last night’s Crispa-Toyota reunion at the Big Dome a big success.

In the end it was the Tamaraws who won, 65-61, and, like in the past, it was a storied finish and literally scripted to the last play.

There was Robert Jaworski, now a senator, hitting the game-winning trey from an assist from four-time MVP Ramon Fernandez, that sent the 6,725 paying fans in uproar.

It was a see-sawing battle, rugged and physical at times dished out by the Tamaraws and the Redmanizers, old and slowed down by the years but spirited as ever.

The reunion match lived it up to all the media hype. It was actually the front act of the PBA All-Star weekend, but after the fun and thrilling finish, it looked like it would be a hard act to follow by the contemporary stars of the league.

And it provided a happy relief to a league now beset with the drug test controversy.

Terry Saldaña, the second youngest member of the Toyota team, piled up 15 points, 15 rebounds, one assist and two blocks and was named best player of the game.

The action-packed duel was dominated by the Tamaraws early on with some unlikely heroes like Oscar Rocha,Rolly Marcelo and Chito Loyzaga but the Redmanizers made a daring chase in the fourth quarter, behind Abet Guidaben, Philip Cesar and Atoy Co setting the tone for the close finish.

The Redmanizers had come within one at 61-62 on a triple by Bogs Adornado when Jaworski banged in the triple from an an assist by Fernandez in the last 23.3 seconds to settle the outcome of the game. — With report from Nelson Beltran