Fading star shines for Sta. Lucia

Kenneth Duremdes made a personal season best 28 points and starred in a fourth-quarter Sta. Lucia breakaway en route to a 100-76 rout of Coca-Cola and a crack at an outright berth in the San Mig Coffee PBA Fiesta Cup wildcard plays at the Ynares Center last night.

Duremdes went 3-of-3 from the three-point arc and rattled in a total of 15 points in the payoff period, highlighting a decisive surge by the Realtors from a 63-61 edge on the way to the crucial win that gave the team a closing 7-9 win-loss mark in the classification round.

"We now have to wait and see after closing out our assignments. But I think we have assured ourselves of at least the No. 8 spot. That means we would avoid the twice-to-win (task in the survivor playoff) and it’s already a good Christmas gift for us," said Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua.

Coca-Cola plunged back to the cellar on its ninth loss against six wins and, minus import Omar Thomas, would need to work extra hard versus Red Bull Barako on Friday to end its classification-round stint on a winning note.

Thomas inflicted Dennis Espino a cut on the head on an elbow foul with 2:54 left to play. That infraction caused Thomas’ ejection and an automatic one-game suspension in their next game.

Thus, the Tigers now face the grim prospect of taking the No. 9 seeding in the post-classification round plays. The No. 9 team plays the No. 8 squad in the survivor playoff, needing to win twice to make the wildcard plays.

The Realtors are hoping for a scenario of a three-way tie among themselves, the Tigers and the San Miguel Beermen at seventh place. In that case, Sta. Lucia gains outright entry into the wildcard plays on the strength of a superior quotient.

"That’s the best situation we’d like ourselves to be in," said Chua.

Duremdes gave the Realtors a tremendous boost in this key win as the 6-foot-2 forward rekindled his MVP form, going 9-of-15 from the field and 7-of-8 from the stripe on top of five assists, four rebounds and two blocks.

Air21 repeated over Purefoods, 110-109, to assure itself of at least a playoff for a quarterfinals berth in the second game.

The Chunkee Giants closed out their classification round stint with a 10-6 card while the Express wound up at 9-7.