Crispa saw its main weapons along with the unlikely lift from Bogs Adornado to beat Toyota in the deciding fifth game and capture the 1979 PBA All-Filipino title. It was the Redmanizers’ first championship in four conferences.
Crispa beats Toyota, wins All-Filipino title
By Bert Eljera
Bulletin Today
Published Sunday July 8, 1979
Crispa ended the frustrations of over a year as a non-winner last night with a stunning 118-111 conquest of bitter rival Toyota to capture the All-Filipino conference of the Philippine Basketball Association before a sell-out crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.
It was a classic display of the Crispa of old as the Redmanizers, for once flaunting the might of their big bench, outsteadied the Tamaraws in a pulse-stopping finish that rightfully served as the climax of a savagely fought best-of-five championship series.
Although Crispa’s top guns delivered, it was the unexpected artillery support from the fired up William Adornado and the awe-inspiring play of their lesser stars that whipped up the Redmanizers no end as they controlled the tempo of the game most of the way.
But the key to the struggle was the pitiful fold-up of the foul-saddled Tamaraws in the homestretch that finally made the difference in the exciting contest.
Toyota, its back-bone broken with the fouling out of play-maker Robert Jaworski and the power-leaping Abe King in the crucial point, failed to score a single basket in two-minute stretch, enabling the Redmanizers to walk off with the match after erecting a commanding 116-107 lead with 1:12 left.
Jaworski, in one of his worst showings in the play-offs, fouled out with 2:36 to go after scoring only nine points second after King also fouled out thereby creating a big dent on Toyota’s backcourt and considerably crippling the defending champion’s fastbreaks.
A drive by Alfredo Hubalde with Crispa down by a point, 106-107, set off the Redmanizers’ breakaway, although the bearded forward fouled out seconds later.
Fortunato Co, Jr. scored on a three-point play after a miss by Ramon Fernandez to make it 111-107 and then after a Toyota time-out Philip Cezar completed a beautiful assist by Gregorio Dionisio, 114-107, 1:30 to go.
Crispa fans, delirious with joy after a long drought, brought out huge banners proclaiming the Redmanizers as All-Filipino champions after that key Cezar basket.
“Buo ang loob ng mga bata,” said Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan.
“Fouls killed us,” said Toyota mentor Fortunato Acuna, Jr.
Those statements by the two coaches practically told the story of the game although breaks played a great part as fortunes swung pendulum-like in the final quarter.
“We deserved the championship,” said a visibly elated Dalupan. “Dapat na magkaroon na kami ng korona after four conferences of failing to get a title.”
The veteran Crispa coach said the fierce determination of the boys was the key to the victory although he admitted that Toyota’s foul troubles made their jobs easier.
Acuna, who steered his team to one championship after taking the Toyota bench in the play-offs for third place in the second conference last year, said that Crispa played a better game but was emphatic in saying “that fouls erased all the chances.”
“In a championship game, fouls really play a lot,” he said. although the nursed slight of hopes of winning even after Jaworski and King fouled out.
“I can say that we have a championship game,” added Acuna.
The comebacking Adornado, who played his “most memorable game,” pumped 20 key points, mostly on one-on-one situations against Arnaiz that proved to be the artillery that Crispa needed.
And more than anybody else, it was Adornado himself who was the most elated about his performance.
“It was the most memorable game I played since my comeback,” said Adornado, who added that he has been thinking all along that in one of the championship games, he will get his breaks.
“I was always prepared,” the one-time undisputed scoring star said.
Earlier, Tanduay blasted Filmanbank, 119-105, behind the heroics of Jaime Manansala and Rene Canent, to clinch third place.
The bull-strong Manansala fired 28 points while Canent, anchoring the Esquires’ sustained running game, contributed 26 points.
Ramon Fernandez, one of the front-runners for the MVP award, nroke away from the tight grips of Alberto Guidaben and Cezar, with a game-high 36 points although it was Arnulfo Tuadles who proved to be the most steady among the Tamaraws.
Tuadles, a rookie but playing every inch like a veteran, scored 29 points, including a cluster of baskets that gave Toyota an early 29-21 lead.
After a sizzling battle, the Tamaraws took the initial quarter, 35-32, and continued to hold on to the driver’s seat early in the second quarter.
Crispa successfully struck through Co, who topscored with 24 points, and Cezar, who had 20, but in another display of erratic fastbreaks, the Redmanizers missed several scoring chances although they went on the grav the lead, 63-58, at halftime.
The Tamaraws tasted the lead for the first time at 107-106 with 3:11 left, but then Hubalde ignited that breakaway that turned the tide of the game.
Tito Varela, Bong de la Cruz, Gregorio Dionisio ably backed up Co, Adornado while Alberto Guidaben likewise played an impressive game despite being saddled with four fouls going into the final half.
The scores:
Crispa — 118
Co 24
Guidaben 21
Adornado 20
Cezar 20
Hubalde 17
Dionisio 7
D.L. Cruz 4
Varela 4
Espinosa 0
Javier 0
Toyota — 111
Fernandez 36
Tuadles 29
Arnaiz 16
Jaworski 9
King 7
Bulaong 6
Legaspi 4
Estrada 0
Salazar 0
Javier 0
Crispa 32 31 26 29 — 118
Toyota 35 23 28 25 — 111
Quarterscores: 32-35, 63-58, 89-86, 118-111
Refs: R. Manuel, W. Mateo, G. Asuncion
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