Realtors get back at Aces; Texters win

Bitoy Omolon poured in 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in checking his slump and Sta. Lucia Realty played steadily throughout, stopping the Alaska Milk charge, 76-65, in Game Three of their KFC PBA Philippine Cup Final Four showdown at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Realtors made a big run in the second quarter and, unlike in the first two games, showed staying power this time to cut the Aces’ lead to 2-1 in their best-of-seven series.

“We’re not out of the rut yet. But this is definitely a good step hopefully towards full recovery and towards winning the series,” said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez.

“We need to muster energy but we didn’t get it tonight. We’re mentally tired,” said Alaska coach Tim Cone.

Omolon rediscovered his old form and provided the firepower for the Realtors, who snapped the Aces’ four-game romp dating back to the elimination round.

“I had a talk with Bitoy before the game, telling him to focus on the game. One would observe that our game usually depends on Bitoy’s performance. If he plays well, the team plays well. If he plays bad, the team plays bad,” said Fernandez.

“Christian (Coronel) also played a key role. He didn’t play the first two games but came out to provide a big help tonight. He put up a good defensive effort on LA (Tenorio) while also getting his points,” Fernandez added.

The entire Sta. Lucia team actually played tough defense all throughout, limiting Alaska to its lowest output in the conference while forcing the Aces to 28 turnovers.

“You get up 2-0 then you dream of ending it quickly. The reality is that Sta. Lucia is the defending champion. They’re the champions until they’re beaten,” said Cone.

“But it’s just a game. It’s like they make a 12-0 run in a game and you to have to stop them. We’ll do what we have to do in Game Four,” Cone added.

With their back against the wall, the Realtors played with great resolve, dominating the Aces to lead by as many as 19 in a low-scoring duel.

Omolon made two triples, seven twinners and five charities in his best game since making 30 in Game One of their best-of-three quarterfinals showdown with Rain or Shine. The former PCU player was held down to an average of 5.5 points in the first two games of the semis.

Dondon Hontiveros scored a career-high 39 points but missed crucial shots at endgame, enabling Talk n Text to salvage a 110-106 win and gain the 2-1 lead over San Miguel Beer in their own semis showdown later in the night.

Jimmy Alapag, Ranidel de Ocampo, Mark Cardona, Harvey Carey, Ali Peek and Jared Dillinger all put in double-digit output, helping cushion the impact of Hontiveros’ big explosion also laced with a career-best eight three-pointers.

“In the huddle, we’re talking about our need to stop Dondon. But we’re also thinking, he’s going to miss somewhere along the way. He missed some and, in the end, our players had their big plays,” sighed Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes.

Meanwhile, the Blue team trounced the Yellow squad, 59-27, at the start of the Talk n Text Cup featuring the first RP Youth 13-under tournament.

Red Team held off White, 49-42, in the other contest among the 48 aspirants for berths in the team competing in the Youth Basketball of America State Championship slated late June in Florida.

PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios did the tossing of the ball, together with National Youth Commission chairman Nic Jorge and RP Youth 13 under head coach Mark Herrera.