Toyota stayed in contention for a spot in the 1979 PBA second conference championship series by winning their second semifinal meeting against Crispa.
Toyota bounces back; RTO wins anew
By Bert Eljera
Bulletin Today
Published Sunday Oct. 21, 1979
Andrew Fields ruled the boards and Ramon Fernandez demonstrated his worth to Toyota last night with a game-clinching foul shot as the Tamaraws got a new lease on life with a 95-93 decision over the Crispa Redmanizers in the PBA second conference semifinals at the Araneta Coliseum.
Fields, who practically played the entire game after partner Bruce King sprained his foot less than three minutes into the first quarter, outclassed the duo of Cyrus Mann and Irving Chatman, 24-11, in rebounds.
Fields grabbed 20 defensive rebounds to trigger the Tams’ patented fastbreaks and at the same time denied the Redmanizers practically no chance to make second or third shots.
It was, however, Fernandez who played the big hero as he banged in a foul shot that gave the Tamaraws a safe 95-91 lead with 15 seconds to go.
Fernandez showed no ill-effects of his brief hospitalization as he played a heady game throughout and even figured in some rugged contacts.
“We got a new lease on life with that win. The boys really played hard to win,” said coach Dante Silverio.
With Toyota’s victory, the race for the two slots in the customary best-of-five championship series, has now become complicated.
Front-running Royal Tru-Orange overpowered Great Taste, 127-108, in the first game but Toyota’s win over Crispa prevented the Orangemen from getting a finals berth outright.
A triple tie for first among Royol, Crispa and Toyota is now quite evident as a result of the Tamaraws’ unexpected win over the Redmanizers.
If both Crispa and Toyota beat Royal Tru-Orange, and also prevail over Great Taste, as expected, the Orangemen, the Redmanizers and the Tamaraws will wind up with similar 4-2 win-loss records.
Royal, however, is still a shoo-in to qualify because of a possible high quotient. It is more likely that Crispa and Toyota will knock each other out in a play-off to determine the second qualifier.
Under tournament rules, a triple tie for first will be resolved via a quotient system whereby the team with the highest quotient gets a seat outright while the other two figure in a one-game playoff for the other berth.
Crispa will meet Royal on Tuesday while Toyota and Royal will clash on Thursday at the end of the semifinal round.
A good defense, Fields’ mastery of the boards and the clutch shooting of Fernandez and Francis Arnaiz were the key factors to the victory although the Tamaraws had to weather a scorching Crispa rally late in the fourth quarter to pull off the victory.
Down by 11 points, 74-85, with over five minutes remaining, the Redmanizers behind Fortunato Co, Jr., Philip Cezar and Bernard Fabiosa unleashed a blistering 9-2 flurry that put Crispa to within four points, 87-83, with 3:43 to go.
Robert Jaworski canned two charities off Fabiosa and Fields banked in a jumpshot to somehow ease the pressure, 91-83, but four foul shots by Cezar and a jumper by Co against a lone foul shot by Arnaiz put the Redmanizers threateningly close again, 92-89.
After Abe King and Chatman swapped baskets, Fernandez then came up with the foul shot that wrapped up the game for good for the Tamaraws, 95-91, 15 seconds left.
“They played a good defense,” said coach “Baby” Dalupan although he just shook his head and refused to answer when asked why Mann, who played impressively in the elimination round, has not come out yet with his own self in the finals.
Dalupan said that it was their weak performance in the rebounds that hurt them most.
The scores:
Toyota — 95
Jaworski 18
Fields 18
Fernandez 18
Arnaiz 16
Abe king 12
Estrada 6
Bulaong 5
Tuadles 2
B. King 0
Salazar 0
Crispa — 93
Co 20
Fabiosa 18
Cezar 15
Guidaben 12
Adornado 10
Mann 6
D.L. Cruz 5
Chatman 5
Varela 2
Hubalde 0
Dionisio 0
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