Duremdes was back in his old fiery form and, with Ryan Fletcher and Dennis Espino also coming out with hot games, the Realtors again bucked the absence of Marlou Aquino, getting even with the Express who dealt them a 93-103 defeat in their previous tiff.
While Duremdes, Fletcher and Espino carried the scoring brunt, Bitoy Omolon and Chester Tolomia took turns in neutralizing Ritualo, holding the FedEx ace gunner seven below his average of 21.3 points a game.
"We really prepared something for Ritualo and urged Bitoy and Chester to limit Renren to less than 12 points. Renren finished with 14 but he was held down to four in the first three quarters of play," said Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua, wary of the former La Salle top gun who sizzled with a record-tying eight consecutive treys and a total of 36 points versus Red Bull Friday.
But Sta. Lucia struggled against FedEx’s pressing defense that held the Realtors scoreless in a four-minute stretch at the outset of the fourth quarter and propelled the Express to a 79-76 lead.
But the Realtors managed to make the right adjustments at the finish and pounced on crucial lapses by Wynne Arboleda to pull off the win.
The Realtors have gone 4-of-5 minus the injured Aquino, improving their overall win-loss record to 6-7 for solo fifth place.
The Express remained in search of a first consecutive victories in the season-ending tourney, sliding to sixth place in a tie with the Red Bull Barakos, the Ginebra Kings, the Purefoods Hotdogs, and the Coke Tigers at 5-7..
Fletcher had a thriller of match-up with Anthony Miller with the Sta. Lucia import logging 28 points and 17 rebounds and his FedEx counterpart 27 points and 18 rebounds.
Espino had a double-double game with 24 points and 14 rebounds while Duremdes dished out a solid all-round game with 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block.