Realtors prey on toothless Tigers

Sta. Lucia Realty pounded, pummeled and powdered a badly-depleted Coca-Cola side, scoring a lopsided 90-69 victory to move back to the upper half of the chart in the KFC PBA Philippine Cup elimination round at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Realtors took advantage of the absence of injury-hit Asi Taulava, Nic Belasco and Alex Cabagnot, as they cruised to their second straight win that boosted their bid for at least an outright quarterfinals entry in the playoff phase.

“Luck was on our side as Coca-Cola missed three key players, but I’m not taking the credit away from my players. It was a crucial game and my players came out strong and played well throughout,” said coach Boyet Fernandez as his Realtors improved their win-loss record to 9-8.

Minus Taulava, Belasco and Cabagnot, the Tigers failed to cope up with the Realtors, tumbling to their 11th defeat against six wins.

Coca-Cola and Red Bull (5-11) clash in a virtual do-or-die game for the last slot in the wildcard round Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The absence of Taulava (fractured left middle finger), Belasco (hairline fracture on left foot) and Cabagnot (groin injury) proved too much to bear for the Tigers. The three have a combined average of 42.6 points, 26.2 rebounds and 10.4 assists.

The Realtors jumped the gun on the Tigers early with Nelbert Omolon making 11 points to give the team a 19-11 lead in the opening quarter.

The Realtors stretched it to 46-28 at halftime and never let up, pouncing on the hapless Tigers to the finish.

“We still have a chance to get outright entry into the semis but it’s not entirely in our hands. We’re determined to take care of things we have control of and that’s winning our last two games,” said Fernandez.

“We’ve got this game and we’ll prepare hard against Red Bull (Sunday). We’ll be ready for them,” added Fernandez, looking for a 10-8 finish in the double-round elimination phase.