Crispa made crucial free throws in the final minutes to beat Toyota in the first semifinal meeting in the 1977 PBA second conference. The Redmanizers beat the Tamaraws who played without Francis Arnaiz due to an injury.
Crispa tops Toyota; U-Tex wins
By Bert Eljera
Bulletin Today
Published Friday Nov. 4, 1977
Crispa, scoring heavily on charities in the fourth quarter, turned back the foul-troubled Toyota Tamaraws, 121-116, to stay in the running in the semifinals of the Philippine Basketball Association second conference at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Redmanizers scored their last 25 points mostly on the foul line to break open the pendulum-like game and then withstood a desperate full-court press and double-teaming defense by the Tamaraws in the closing seconds to post the victory, their second in four games.
Crispa’s win came after the league-leading U-Tex Wranglers posted their third straight victory — a come-from-behind 96-92 win over the 7-Up Uncolas.
Tommy Manotoc’s boys trailed for three quarters and were down by 12 points at halftime, 40-52.
The Redmanizers moved up to solo third behind U-Tex (3-0) and idle Tanduay (2-1) while the Tamaraws slipped to a two-way tie for fourth place with Presto Ice Cream with identical 1-2 slates.
The Uncolas bring up the rear with a 1-3 record.
The Tamaraws entered the penalty situation with still seven minutes and 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter. This proved to be the biggest break for Baby Dalupan’s charges, who had trailed most of the way.
Cashing in on their free throws, the Redmanizers turned a 96-97 deficit into a 107-103 lead.
The Redmanizers went on to pad their lead to seven. 112-105, after an undergoal shot by Fortunato Co, Jr. and a three-point play by Freddie Hubalde off Quirino Salazar.
But the Tams refused to give up and battled back to narrow the gap, 116-113, 1:50 left.
A couple of passing errors by Bernardo Fabiosa aided Toyota in that comeback but the speedy Crispa sentinel redeemed himself in the next play by setting up Philip Cezar for an easy layup, 115-110, then intercepting an inbound pass by Toyota import John Irving.
Fabiosa, who fired 21 points behind Hubalde’s top-scoring 24 points, went on to give Crispa a safe seven-point bubble, 117-110, 1:10 left, on two charities off Abe King.
Toyota threatened for the last time at 116-119 after Jess Sta. Maria scored on a drive, 10 ticks to go but Fabiosa again free threw twice on Sta. Maria’s sixth foul for that final 121-116 score.
Dalupan said it was Toyota’s early entry into the penalty that swung the game into their favor.
“We made the most of it,” said Dalupan, referring to Toyota’s foul trouble.
The victory, witnessed by some 30,000 fans, gave the Redmanizers a 28-22 margin in their continuing duel with the Tamaraws.
U-Tex, 133-123 overtime winner over Toyota last Saturday, moved ahead only in the fourth quarter, 80-79, on a charity by Romualdo Cabading and went on to post an 87-84 lead.
But the Uncolas, who had upset Crispa, 121-120, last Monday, cut the lead to one point twice, the last at 90-91, 35 seconds left.
It took a three-point play by Lim Eng-Beng, who topscored for U-Tex with 19 points, to finally take the heat off the Wranglers, 95-90, 10 ticks remaining.
Lim scored that basket off Lawrence Mumar after Byron “Snake” Jones had won the tap against 7-Up import Steve Stroud during a jumpball.
Chris McMurray, 7-Up’s other American cager, was limited to 8 points, his lowest this season, while Stroud made only two.
Uncola hostshot Danilo Florencio led all scorers with 38 points.
Toyota again played minus ace guard Francis Arnaiz, who was still nursing a sprained right foot. Silverio said he was doubtful whether Arnaiz could play in their remaining games.
Irving led all scorers with 37 points and had 11 rebounds, 11 assists and two blocked shots. He made good 18 of 29 field goal attempts for a high 62.07 clip.
The other Toyota import, Bruce “Sky” King, had 13 points, 7 rebounds, three assists and one blocked shot while Cyrus Mann, playing for 42.45 minutes, had 20 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists and four blocked shots.
The scores:
Crispa — 121
Hubalde 24
Fabiosa 21
Mann 20
Co 19
Guidaben 10
Dionisio 10
Soriano 10
Cezar 7
Varela 0
Toyota — 116
Irving 37
Fernandez 21
Jaworski 16
B. King 13
Legaspi 10
A. King 6
Sta. Maria 4
Bulaong 4
Javier 3
Salazar 2
Crispa 28 33 27 33 — 121
Toyota 29 30 30 27 — 116
Refs: I. Cahanding, R. Bartolome, J. Obias
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