Suddenly, Purefoods is in command in its semifinal duel with the highly fancied San Miguel Beer team.
The Giants continued to defy the odds, stunning the Beermen, 94-82, for the second straight game to gain the pivotal 3-2 lead in their KFC PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal showdown at the Araneta Coliseum Friday night.
As in Game Four, the Purefoods starting unit did a heckuva job and the reserves had key contributions as the Giants moved to within a win of a second all-Filipino final stint in three years.
Seemingly enjoying a second wind after surviving Rain or Shine in a grueling quarters battle, Purefoods seized control early and sustained the heat throughout to push San Miguel on the brink.
The Giants try to complete a series upset in Game Six Sunday or Game Seven Wednesday to gain the right to challenge the Alaska Milk Aces in the finals.
“We like where we are right now but we have no reason to celebrate until we get that win No. 4,” said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.
“We know how capable San Miguel is. We’ll stick with the game plan of buckling down on defense and making it hard for them to score. I think that’s the best way to have a chance to beat a mighty opponent,” Gregorio added.
San Miguel coach Siot Tanquingcen said they would certainly come out with an all-out effort Sunday to force a sudden-death.
The Beermen fought with grit and spunk but the Giants rose to the challenge, pulling off a wire-to-wire win.
Kerby Raymundo, Rafi Reavis and Roger Yap scored the game’s first three baskets and the Giants held on to the lead to the finish.
The trio and two other Purefoods starters in James Yap and Marc Pingris all came through with a sterling job, leading the Giants to the win that sent them to the threshold of a 21st PBA finals.
“Our starters are really getting the job done but they just couldn’t play 48 minutes. Our reserves had their key contributions,” said Gregorio making special mention of Nino Canaleta.
“KG Canaleta was benched in Game Three on my decision. Still, he came out tonight and gave us tremendous help. That’s a testament to the character that he has,” Gregorio said of Canaleta.
Purefoods took the half at 49-36 on the strong start by James Yap and Raymundo and the team sustained the momentum in the third quarter with Canaleta firing 10 points.
The former UE stalwart was 2-of-3 from the three-point area and 2-of-2 from the stripe in five minutes of action in that period.
Raymundo and the two Yaps scored at least 17 each and they were in there helping the team close out the game.
The Beermen reeled to a second straight loss as they were again beaten in shooting and rebounding.
James Yap and Raymundo started strong with both hitting double-figure output right in the opening half.
The Giants torched the Beermen with a 62.5-percent shooting in the second period, enabling them to carry a 13-point spread over into the final half.
Curiously, the Giants had a paltry 33.3 percent shooting as against the Beermen’s 54.5 percent clip in the first quarter.
Dondon Hontiveros made nine points on perfect shooting in the first quarter but was held down to two the rest of the way.
Going down as footnote in the contest was Olsen Racela coming through with eight steals – tying the all-time best made earlier by Yoyong Martinez and Johnny Abarrientos. (SB)
The scores:
Purefoods 94 - Raymundo 18, Yap R, 18, Yap J. 17, Canaleta 13, Reavis 10, Maierhofer 8, Allado 5, Artadi 3, Pingris 2, Adducul 0.
San Miguel 82 - Washington 21, Miranda 15, Santos 12, Hontiveros 11, Racela 8, Ildefonso 6, Pennisi 3, Custodio 2, Villanueva 2, Pena 2, Cortez 0.
Quarterscores: 24-19, 49-36, 69-62, 94-82
