Resurgent Realtors, Giants go for 2nd win

Sta. Lucia Realty and Purefoods Chunkee, two teams which went the extra miles to make it to the quarterfinals, try to sustain their runs, seeking to move in the doorstep of the Talk n Text PBA Philippine Cup Final Four today.

Both enjoying second wind, Sta. Lucia and Purefoods go for a second straight win versus Red Bull and Talk n Text, respectively, in Game Two of their best-of-five quarterfinals showdown at the Astrodome.

"Yes, we’re tired. We’re tired of losing," said Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua as his team, which needed to go through the wildcard round, drew first blood in its showdown with Red Bull.

"We’re upbeat about our chances. It is rewarding to beat a team like Talk n Text. It is a fact that they have a tall and deep roster, but I don’t mind that for as long as we outwork them from the opening tip up to the final buzzer," said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

The Realtors and the Giants, seeded Nos. 6 and 5 in the playoffs, expect their rivals to come out strong in a bid to get even but they say they’re ready for the challenge.

Purefoods battles Talk n Text at 4:35 p.m. then Sta. Lucia clashes with Red Bull at 7:30 p.m.

"Outhustling the opponent is the reason why we’ve been successful in the past. We will use the same formula in Game Two," said Gregorio.

Chua has become more optimistic with his young stars Kelly Williams and Alex Cabagnot continuing to get better while veterans Kenneth Duremdes, Dennis Espino and Marlou Aquino slowly recover from injuries.

Williams churned out huge games in their knockout game with Air21 Friday and in Game One of their quarters showdown with Red Bull. For that, he won the PBA Press Corps’ ACCEL-TnT Player of the Week honors.

Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao, however, said his boys are still in high spirits, buoyed by their tremendous second-half efforts Sunday that nearly gave them a come-from-behind win.

"We have to pay a price for our long break. We’re happy with the way we played in the second half. We hope to sustain that in Game Two," said Guiao, whose troops came out flat in the series opener, falling behind by 28 points at halftime.

The Giants had a tougher task against the Pals, who could have sent the game into overtime had Jimmy Alapag converted a three-point attempt in the closing seconds.

The Giants and the Pals figured in a fierce battle but the former prevailed with their starters outplaying their TnT counterparts.

Purefoods starters James Yap, Marc Pingris, Roger Yap, Jondan Salvador and Kerby Raymundo outscored Talk N Text first stringers Anthony Washington, Yancy de Ocampo, Mark Cardona, Harvey Carey and Jimmy Alapag, 58-38.

Pingris stepped up big time, coming through a double-double game with 19 points and 17 rebounds and the Giants took the cue as they gained the decisive head start in the short series.

"I think nobody expected us to win except ourselves. It’s a nice series for us with all the odds stacked against us," said Gregorio.