Realtors win, have a lot to show

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — A week after being frustrated by Purefoods in La Union, the Sta. Lucia Realtors were back on the road and went home with a good story to tell.

The Realtors pummeled the Talk n Text Phone Pals in the second half and scored a 102-90 victory that firmed up their hold of the lead in the Talk n Text-PBA Philippine Cup at the University of Assumption Gym here last night.

The much-improved Realtors continued to dish out splendid performance with Kelly Williams, Dennis Espino, Ronnie Bughao, Kenneth Duremdes and Alex Cabagnot delivering huge numbers in nailing a fifth win against one defeat.

That gave Sta. Lucia a full-game edge over joint-second placers Barangay Ginebra (4-2) and Red Bull (4-2) with Talk n Text sliding to fourth place in a tie with Purefoods at 4-3.

The Ginebra Kings seek solo second place as they tangle with the Alaska Milk Aces at the resumption of play at the Araneta Coliseum today. Welcoat and Coca-Cola clash in the other game with the Dragons out to prove their 85-75 conquest of the Tigers in their first meeting was for real.

Over in Subic, Zambales, San Miguel Beer welcomed the return of Danny Ildefonso with a 118-102 walloping of Air21 at the Subic Gym.

Seven Beermen, including Ildefonso who’s back from sickbay, scored in double figures as San Miguel made it three in a row after three successive defeats.

The Express, on the other hand, fell to 2-4 despite the return of Niño Canaleta and Homer Se. Canaleta is also back from injury while Se returns from a one-game suspension.

Gonzales fired 18 points to pace the Beermen who also drew at least 11 from Danny Seigle, Ildefonso, Dondon Hontiveros, Olsen Racela, LA Tenorio and Romel Adducul.

Ildefonso scored nine of his 13 in the fourth quarter.

Williams had a solid double-double job with 25 points and 11 rebounds with Duremdes adding 17 points, Espino 16 points, Bughao 15 points and Cabagnot nine points and nine assists for the Realtors.

Harvey Carey and Asi Taulava led the Pals with 18 and 15 points, respectively.

Williams, the season’s top rookie draft, and Duremdes, the 1998 MVP winner, presided over a vicious Sta. Lucia attack in the third quarter that opened up a 79-65 spread for the team.

The Realtors pressed their bid in the final period and enjoyed a 19-point bulge at 102-83 following back-to-back treys by Williams.

The Realtors cashed in on a number of miscues by the Pals in the second quarter with Bughao mostly on the firing end to take a 51-48 lead at halftime.

Norman Gonzales, Williams and Espino also struck in this quarter helping the Realtors move up front after trailing 29-32 at the end of the first period.

The Realtors started strong but the Pals closed the opening quarter with a 15-7 run spiked by back-to-back triples by Renren Ritualo and Jimmy Alapag.

Then the Pals ran into a series of lapses, committing 10 in all as against the Realtors’ three in the second canto.