Crispa halted Toyota’s unbeaten start at six games after winning their first meeting in the 1978 PBA season. The match spoiled new Tamaraw Danny Florencio's debut in the rivalry.
Crispa topples Toyota, 123-110
By Bert Eljera
Bulletin Today
Published Friday May 19, 1978
Defending champion Crispa smashed favored Toyota last night, 123-110, in a rugged game before some 22,000 fans at the close of the first round of the PBA All-Filipino Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.
In what Crispa coach Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan termed as their best game of the season, the Redmanizers oozed with speed and firepower to rout the previously unbeaten Tamaraws.
The victory, which tied Crispa and Toyota for the lead with identical 6-1 records, boosted the Redmanizers’ overall edge over the Tamaraws to 30-24.
“The boys were inspired,” enthused Dalupan after the game. “They gave all what they got knowing they were up against a strong team.”
In their eagerness to win, the power-laden Tamaraws ran into a mess of fouls resulting in the loss of two key men — skipper Robert Jaworski and slotman Abe King.
King was thrown out of the game, four minutes and 25 seconds left in the third quarter, for hitting Crispa center Alberto Guidaben on the head while Jaworski fouled out at the height of Toyota’s rally midway in the final period.
After a very close start, the game took a sharp turn in Crispa’s favor late in the second period when the Tamaraws’ defense collapsed.
The deadly trio of Fortunato Co, Alfredo Hubalde and Philip Cezar engineered the Redmanizers’ breakaway, taking a pair of 16-point leads en route to a 63-48 margin at halftime.
The Tams, who scored only half of their 14 free throws in the second quarter, shot back into the game with Jaworski and Danilo Florencio triggering off the rally with a pair of completed steals off Gregorio Dionisio at the start of the third quarter.
with a solid double-teaming defense backing them up, Toyota closed in at 85-83 at the end of the third quarter and then maintained the pressure early in the final frame.
But Hubalde, Virgilio de la Cruz, Cezar and Bernard Fabiosa teamed up to push Crispa ahead, 99-89.
The Tamaraws rallied once more behind Florencio to narrow the gap to five, 107-102, but Cezar ignited a decisive 16-8 windup as the Redmanizers won with plenty to spare.
“Our defense was terribly off,” walled Toyota Coach Dante Silverio. “Our shots just would not go in when we needed them most. With the loss of King and Jaworski, we were virtually crippled.”
“But you have to give it to Crispa. They played a very good game,” he added.
The Redmanizers led virtually in all departments of the game. They had a 47.11 clip from the field (49 out of 103) and a 78.12 percentage from the foul lane (25 of 52) against 63.83 for Toyota (30 of 47).
The defending champs also outrebounded the Tamaraws, 68-51.
The scores:
Crispa — 123
Cezar 26
Guidaben 21
Hubalde 21
Co 18
Fabiosa 11
Adornado 8
De la Cruz 8
Javier 6
Dionisio 2
Varela 2
Franco 0
Toyota
Fernandez 25
Florencio 24
Arnaiz 14
Estrada 11
King 11
Jaworski 10
Acuna 8
Bulaong 5
Sta. Maria 2
Javier 0
Crispa 25 37 26 35 — 123
Toyota 27 21 37 25 — 110
Refs: E. Cruz, I. Cahanding, R. Bartolome
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