Paolo Mendoza also buried a crucial three-pointer down the stretch as the Realtors overcame the ouster of Kenneth Duremdes to injury and bucked the Express’ spirited fourth-quarter charge in nailing their first win in three starts in the All-Filipino tourney.
Sta. Lucia pulled even at 100-all on Mendoza’s trey and surged ahead to prevail as Omolon and Tolomia combined in a key play that bailed the team out of trouble and into the win column. The Express took their second loss against a win.
Omolon intercepted a pass by Patrick Fran to Renren Ritualo in the dying seconds but missed the lay-up. A trailing Tolomia then grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on a putback to the delight of the Sta. Lucia crowd.
"We’re still trying to improve on our game with a new system. Actually, we’re not looking to win. We’re looking to improve with each game, so winning this is a bonus," said Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua.
Duremdes led all scorers with 30 points but sat out the last five minutes of the game after hurting his right foot on a freak accident.
But the Realtors never lost their poise, fighting back from a six-point deficit to notch the victory following back-to-back defeats to the Purefoods Chunkee Giants and the Barangay Ginebra Kings.
With a 100-97 lead, Air21 had a chance to wrap up the game after gaining possession following a missed three-point attempt by Tolomia entering the final minute.
Back in top shape, San Miguel Beer displayed a form which the injury-stricken Barangay Ginebra team just couldn’t match in a 77-59 victory in the second game.