Duremdes nailed his three-point shot on a catch-and-shoot play with five-tenths of a seconds left and the Realtors came up with a follow-up on their 85-82 win over the San Miguel Beermen Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Rookie guard Alex Cabagnot hit the decisive three-pointer then paving the way for Sta. Lucia’s first victory in its last six outings.
Making it two in a row on an escape act at the finish, the Realtors closed in on the leaders with a 4-6 win-loss card at seventh place.
Talk n Text suffered a second loss in its last three games and fell a game behind erstwhile co-leader Purefoods Chunkee (7-2) with a 6-3 slate.
The Realtors got a big relief after squandering a 16-point third-quarter advantage and teetering on the brink of defeat when the Phone Pals took ball possession with time down to 16 seconds and the count tied at 97-all.
Alas, Damien Cantrell took an unguarded three-pointer which went short and sailed out of bounds with still two seconds left in the clock.
Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua quickly sued for time and, at the resumption of play, the Realtors executed perfectly a play that had Duremdes getting free in the left flank for that game-winning three-pointer to wild applause of the crowd.
Talk n Text still tried to force an overtime play but Donbel Belano’s desperation three-pointer went awry.
The Realtors enjoyed a 79-63 bulge in the third quarter as hometown boy Chester Tolomia starred in an 11-to-nothing run by the team from a slim 68-63 lead.
However, Mark Telan, Asi Taulava and Jimmy Alapag teamed up in a Talk n Text counter-attack that narrowed the gap to four, 80-84, going into the fourth period.
The Phone Pals managed to draw level twice but just couldn’t surge ahead with Cantrell blowing away their crack at the win on his ill-advised three-pointer in the dying seconds.
Talk n Text took control in the opening quarter while making five-of-eight three-pointers. Sta. Lucia, however, had darted ahead, 61-52, by the half.