Realtors thwart Aceson Gonzales heroics

Forward Norman Gonzales took charge as Sta. Lucia Realty unleashed decisive runs in the second half on the way to a 92-80 win over Alaska Milk in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo last night.

Gonzales rattled in all but two of his 19 points in the last two quarters and also collected 10 rebounds, emerging as the Realtors’ biggest hero as they stopped their two-game skid, gaining a new boost in their bid with a seventh win against six losses.

“This is a crucial win considering we’re closely bunched together in the middle of the pack. We’ll take it one game at a time. We’ll now be looking forward to our next game against Rain or Shine (Wednesday),” said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez.

Sta. Lucia made a huge 29-point swing in the final half, overhauling a 13-point deficit and leading by as many as 16 before eventually avenging a 89-95 defeat to Alaska in their previous tiff.

The Aces stayed well entrenched atop the leader board, though, despite a second loss in their last three outings.

With a 9-4 win-loss card, Alaska is still a full-game ahead of second-running San Miguel Beer (8-5) and two games in front of Sta. Lucia.

The Beermen seek to close in on the Aces as they slug it out with the Talk n Text Tropang Texters in Singapore tomorrow.

Nelbert Omolon, Joseph Yeo and Dennis Espino also put in significant numbers for the Realtors, making up for the two-point game of Kelly Williams.

Gonzales, Omolon and Yeo struck heavily on transition plays after key stoppages on swarming defense by the team.

“We got tremendous energy on our defense in the third quarter. We made several stoppages and scored a lot on fastbreak,” said Fernandez.

The Realtors produced 33 points on 24 errors committed by the Aces.

Alaska main man Willie Miller scattered 17 points in the first half but was held down to five charities in the final half.

Allan Salangsang pumped in 12 of his 17 points in a splendid display of outside shooting in the third quarter, keying a big turnaround by Rain or Shine from a 15-point deficit in repeating with a 100-92 win over Red Bull in the second game.

The Elasto Painters kept in step with the Realtors at 7-6 despite the absence of injured first-stringers JayR Reyes and Rob Wainwright.