James Yap, June Peter Simon and Marc Pingris strung up seven charities in the last 27 seconds, and the Purefoods avoided what could have been a heartbreaking defeat after enjoying and squandering a 20-point bulge at the onset of the final half.
Erasing a 40-60 deficit on a fiery chase in the third quarter, the Realtors engaged the Giants in a fierce battle in the final canto and came close to winning the match by surging ahead, 96-93, on a crucial 7-0 run with 35 seconds to go.
But the Realtors faltered at the finish, and the Giants used successive trips to the stripe to salvage the game and improve their stock to 2-3 (win-loss).
The Realtors suffered their first defeat in four starts in the season where they’ve emerged as a serious contender following the arrival of rookies Kelly Williams and Mark Isip and the return of Fil-Am guard Alex Cabagnot.
Williams had another productive performance with 21 points but missed a shot that could have turned the outcome of the game in the closing seconds.
With Sta. Lucia falling behind by three on two free throws by Pingris with nine seconds to go, the Realtors went to Kenneth Duremdes for an attempt to force overtime, but the one-time MVP winner muffed a three-pointer.
Fouled with 1.2 seconds left, Yap, who led all scorers with 22, split his charities for the final tally.
It was a sweet win for the Giants who weren’t able to practice in the venue yesterday as they came late with their service bus encountering mechanical trouble along Pozzorubio, Pangasinan.
Behind a torrid shooting, the Giants took the half at 57-40 and had their biggest lead at 60-40 as Kerby Raymundo opened the third quarter with a three-point play.
But the Realtors swiftly charged back into contention in the pivotal period, igniting a 22-2 run to pull even at 62-all.