Crispa Walk Tall drew first blood against Toyota in their best-of-five series for the 1979 PBA third conference championship. The Tamaraws once again played minus Ramon Fernandez, Abe King and Estoy Estrada.
Harris, C’tman shine as Crispa wins by 28
By Al Mendoza
Bulletin Today
Published Sunday Dec. 9, 1979
A near-flawless performance by the imports led Crispa to a smashing 129-101 win over Toyota last night in the opener of their best-of-five series for the PBA third conference crown at the Araneta Coliseum.
Bernard Harris routed Andrew Fields while Irving Chatman held his fort against the deadlier Bruce “Sky” King in a matchup hatched only before the game.
“Basta pumasok na lang sa isip ko na mag-switch sila ng guwardiya,” said Crispa caoch Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan when asked why he ordered Harris to take on Fields instead of King.
“Kasi pinaglaruan lamang ni Fields si Chatman noong nakaraang laro namin at si (Philip) Cezar nga ang sumalo,” Dalupan added.
True enough, Fields, who normally scores more than 20 points a game, made only nine points this time, seven of them in the first quarter. Fields’ other two points came in the last period.
The two teams meet on Tuesday in the second game of the title series following the second match of the best-of-five series between U-Tex and Gilbey’s Gin for third place.
The Wranglers beat the Gins, 129-123, in the first game last night.
William Adornado fired all his 11 points in the first quarter as he sparked a 15-2 blast that put Crispa ahead, 19-14, from a 4-10 deficit.
The Tamaraws failed to recover from that blast and the crowd of about 17,000 spent the rest of the night regaling at the Jeanmakers masterful conquest of the defending champions.
Harris pumped in a game-high 38 points and grabbed a night-high 17 rebounds. He got solid support from Chatman, who tallied 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.
Harris, a recruit from Tanduay, played the whole game, making eight points in the third quarter when Crispa sped to an 18-point lead, 83-65.
“Sa ganda ng laro ng mga imports, nadala na rin ang mga locals,” said Dalupan, who said that the absence of Ramon Fernandez considerably weakened Toyota’s cause.
Fernandez, Abe King and Ernesto Estrada have not played for Toyota since the start of the third conference for reasons unclear to the public.
All Toyota coach Dante Silverio told sportswriters was the three are under disciplinary action.
Philip Cezar also starred for the Jeansmakers with 18 points, nine in the second quarter as Walk Tall took the half by 11 points, 58-47.
It was Crispa’s 42nd win in 78 meetings with Toyota.
Fortunato Co, Jr. shot 22 points and Alberto Guidaben added 10 as half of the 12 players fielded by Dalupan hit in double figures.
The scores:
Crispa — 129
Harris 38
Co 22
Chatman 20
Cezar 18
Adornado 11
Guidaben 10
Espinosa 2
Varela 2
Dionisio 2
Hubalde 2
Fabiosa 1
D.L. Cruz 0
Toyota — 101
Jaworski 23
Arnaiz 22
Legaspi 11
B. King 10
Tuadles 10
Fields 9
Salazar 8
Javier 4
Bulaong 4
Sta. Maria 0
Quarterscores: 33-22, 58-47, 90-78, 129-101
Crispa 33 25 32 39 — 129
Toyota 22 25 31 23 — 101
Refs: R. Bartolome, R. Victorino, G. Ledesma
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