Sta. Lucia made a big turnaround in the second half, overcoming an 18-point deficit early on as the Realtors hacked out a 107-93 win over the Welcoat Dragons in the Smart PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night.
The red-hot Realtors eventually eliminated the Dragons while enhancing their outright semis bid on a sixth straight win and their 10th in 16 games in all.
It was a stirring win for the Realtors in the game marred by a little squabble between the two coaches at endgame.
Coach Leo Austria and his Dragons felt offended when Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez called a timeout with his team way ahead with time down to 22 seconds.
In the ensuing play, Austria also sued for time with four seconds to go. At the resumption of play, the Dragons inbounded the ball to the referee.
“My players felt bad. And being the leader of the team, I felt I have to show our disgust,” said Austria. “We’ve lost the game and we’re eliminated. (What they did was) adding insult to injury.”
For a third straight conference, Welcoat was the first team to move out of contention. The Dragons took the exit on a ninth straight defeat and their 13th in 16 games overall.
Later, Fernandez said he didn’t mean to disrespect Austria and his team. “I just wanted to win. If coach Leo was offended, my apology,” said Fernandez.
Sta. Lucia assistant coach Cholo Martin also approached Austria and apologized in behalf of Fernandez.
Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes both churned out double-double numbers with Nelbert Omolon and Joseph Yeo adding at least 12 points each.