Realtors nip Barakos in Davao tiff

DAVAO – Sta. Lucia Realty fouled up on the foul line but made key defensive stops down the stretch to nip Red Bull Barako, 98-97, last night and get back into the thick of things in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference at the packed RMC Gym here.

Derrick Brown, who fired a PBA career-high 57 points in Sta. Lucia’s 90-120 loss to San Miguel Beer last week, sizzled again with 38 points but flubbed two crucial free throws at endgame.

Marlou Aquino likewise muffed two charities, enabling the Barakos to close within 97-98 with 51 seconds left in the contest after trailing by as many as 79-92 midway in the fourth quarter.

But the Realtors toughened up on defense, forcing the Barakos to miss their last four possessions, including a Corey Hightower miss from the three-point range.

Dennis Espino fired 17 points while Gerald Francisco and Aquino tossed in 15 and 12 points, respectively, for Sta. Lucia, which now totes a 5-8 (win-loss) card.

"We had some lapses in the endgame but we did not give up and that was the key," said Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua, whose last out-of-town in Zamboanga City also produced another gem of a win at the expense of the Coca-Cola Tigers two weeks ago.

Hightower paced Red Bull with 33 points, including 13 in the final period but struggled for possession in the last 22.5 seconds in the face of a stifling defense by Brown.

The Barakos reeled to their sixth setback against the same number of victories.

Francisco came off the bench to fire nine of his output in the second quarter when the Realtors turned a 25-30 deficit into a 36-30 lead although the Barakos regained control to finish the first half up at 44-43.

But Espino and Aquino imposed their will in the shaded area at resumption of the contest as they joined hands with Brown in a series of runs bridging the final two quarters, giving Sta. Lucia its biggest lead of the match at 92-79, less than five minutes to go.