Captain Marbel rescues Sta. Lucia

Marlou Aquino and Kenneth Duremdes gained personal milestones in reaching the 5,000-point plateau and Dennis Espino saved the party for his teammates, delivering the winning free throws as Sta. Lucia repulsed Coca-Cola, 84-82, in the Samsung All-Filipino Cup at the Philsports Arena last night.

Espino made two charities off a foul by Rudy Hatfield with time down to 2.2 seconds and the Realtors overcame the Tigers in a fierce duel, gaining solo second place in Group A on a fourth straight victory.

"Nakakahinayang ang milestones ni Kenneth (Duremdes) at Marlou (Aquino) kung matatalo lang kami. Kaya talagang pinagpursigihan naming ipanalo ito," said Espino.

Aquino and Duremdes became the 47th and 48th members of the 5,000-point club as they made 13 and 23 points, respectively, in the contest. Aquino, who entered the league in 1996, hit the mark on his first basket 11 minutes into the game then Duremdes, a batch 95 member, followed suit on his 21st point on a jumper off Rob Wainwright with 7:39 left to play.

"Na-pressure kami, kasi alam naming makukuha ni Marlou at Kenneth. The problem was that Coca-Cola might gate-crash the party," said Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua.

Espino, himself close to achieving the milestone, slammed the party door shut on the Tigers on a big play in the closing seconds, drawing a foul from Wainwright on a drive for the winning charities.

Jeffrey Cariaso hurled a desperation shot at the buzzer that was too strong.

Thus, the Realtors broke free from a three-team standoff with the San Miguel Beermen and the FedEx Express at second place in Group A in nailing their fifth win in nine outings. The Tigers suffered a fourth straight defeat but stayed at second place in Group B with an even 4-4 mark.

Espino proved to be Sta. Lucia’s biggest hero as the 6-foot-6 forward-slotman came up with a double-double job with 21 points and 12 rebounds that went with five assists and two blocks.

Espino himself gave the Realtors a three-point cushion, 82-79, with time down to 31 seconds on a free throw off a foul by Johnny Abarrientos.

But the Tigers pulled even at 82-all, 15 seconds later, as Wainwright, who scored 15 points, canned in a trey using the glass.

After a timeout, the Reltors went to Duremdes who dribbled away a few seconds first before kicking out the ball to Espino, who then zigzagged his way to the basket off a phalanx of Coca-Cola defenders.

Drawing a foul from Hatfield, Espino coolly sank both charities to finish off the Tigers.