Viva-FEU pips Montana

Arwind Santos came up with yet another solid performance yesterday as Viva Mineral Water-FEU scuttled Montana Pawnshop, 75-65, in the 2004 PBL Unity Cup before a huge crowd at the Pasig Sports Center.

The 6-foot-4 Santos was simply amazing as he humbled all guards thrown at him to finish with a game-high 27 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the 3-point zone, a performance that confirmed his status as one of the league’s most prolific scorers.

Belying his lean frame, Santos also held his ground against heftier and seasoned Montana players to post an impressive double-double performance with 12 rebounds in 23 minutes of action. He also had two blocked shots and an assist.

Boyet Bautista and Ronjay Enrile shared the limelight with Santos later in the day as the two powered Toyota Otis-Letran to a stunning 70-64 win over erstwhile unbeaten Sunkist-UST.

The soft-spoken Santos, who normed 17 points a game in the team’s last three outings, shot almost impeccably from the field, going 9-of-10 early in the final canto but fatigue slowed him down. He wound up with 10-of-18 shooting. "I was happy the boys responded to my challenge, they came here ready to play and they showed it naman," said Viva-FEU coach Koy Banal, who was especially happy with the performance of Santos.

"Everybody did their share for this victory but I have to make special mention to the performance of Santos.

"He really played so well that I think he inspired his teammates to play the same,"said Banal.

The win was the third for the Water Force in four starts, thus boosting their bid to advance outright into the next round. The Jewels slipped to 1-3.

Working behind a sleek running game anchored on Santos, Mark Isip, Jason Misolas and Warren Ybanez, the Water Force posted their biggest lead at 59-35, an advantage that gave Banal the luxury of using his second unit.

But that almost backfired for Banal as Montana’s Al Magpayo, held to just two points in the first half, went berserk as he overpowered Cebu standout Neil Raneses in the shaded lane to move the Jewels to within 50-65 going into the final 10 minutes.

But Santos‚ show was not yet over.

He opened the fourth quarter by burying his fourth triple and then drew another thunderous applause when he completed a three-point play that gave them a 71-50 bubble, a lead enough to cushion Montana’s last-ditch comeback.

Montana’s Jondan Salvador registered his fourth straight double-double performance with 17 points and 15 rebounds but his efforts went down the drain again.

Santos got able support from Isip, Ybanez and Misolas who combined with 35 points.