Realtors overpower Bulls in stretch

Sta. Lucia Realty struggled with a poor field-goal shooting but gutted it out to overhaul a 19-point deficit and hack out an 83-80 win over Red Bull in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

Kelly Williams came through with a double-double performance of 17 points and 18 rebounds, and the Realtors fought back from a 19-point deficit to get back on track, notching a fourth win in eight outings.

“Credit goes to the boys. They really struggled on the floor but never gave up. Marlou (Aquino) and Dennis (Espino) provided the intensity. Kelly missed his shots but controlled the rebounds for us. Our wing guys stepped up to make up for the continued absence of Ryan (Reyes),” said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez.

“We’re still not playing well but at least we have stopped our skid. It’s hard to perk up the morale of the boys when you’re losing,” Fernandez added.

Minus coach Yeng Guiao who’s abroad on a personal business, the Bulls did well only to flounder in the fourth period.

The Bulls converted just five of their 17 field goal shots and committed three errors in a fourth-quarter collapse sending the team reeling to its fifth loss against three wins.

Going for naught were Gabby Espinas’ game-high 20-point output and Jeff Chan’s career-best 15-point showing.

The Realtors outscored the Bulls, 23-15, in the final canto, surging ahead to stay at 82-75, on two free throws by Williams and a short stab by Espino off Mike Hrabak.

The Bulls got a chance to pull even after a triple by Chan then a steal by Cyrus Baguio off Denok Miranda with 11 seconds left to play.

Sta. Lucia, however, put up a resolute defense, forcing Celino Cruz to call an excessive timeout on tremendous pressure from Mendoza with time down to five seconds.

Espino, who wound up with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists, nailed down the technical charity, making it 83-80.

Red Bull eventually lost the game with Cruz missing a three-point attempt in the dying seconds.

Sta. Lucia won the contest despite a woeful 33.3-percent shooting as against Red Bull’s 38.7-percent clip.

The Bulls’ shooting only soured in the payoff period after a steady showing three-fourth of the way.