Crispa pulled away down the stretch to take a 2-1 lead over Toyota and a win away from taking home the 1981 PBA Open Conference championship.
Crispa stuns Toyota
By Philip Evardone
Bulletin Today
Published Wednesday July 22, 1981
Crispa, starring Alberto Guidaben and Byron “Snake” Jones, held Toyota to a lone field goal in the last four minutes and 20 seconds last night to score a come-from-behind 126-116 victory that moved the Redmanizers within a win of winning their ninth PBA title in seven years at the Araneta Coliseum.
Jones came off the bench with 4:06 to go to handcuff Andrew Fields and combined with Guidaben, Fortunato Co, Jr. and Bernard Fabiosa in unloading an 11-2 bomb that left Toyota in shambles.
The victory — Crispa’s fifth in seven meetings with Toyota this season — gave the Redmanizers a commanding 2-1 lead in their best-of-five championship series and the Redmanizers go for the clincher in Game 4 tomorrow.
Dethroned champion U-Tex also made it 2-1 over San Miguel Beer in their battle for third when the Wranglers turned back the Brewers, 118-115.
A miss by Aaron James with six seconds left with SMC behind by one, 115-116, spelled doom for the Brewers who are in command most of the way.
Nine straight points by Fields off James Hardy forced Dalupan to tap in Jones withn Crispa trailing, 106-114, 4:06 remaining.
And as fate would have it, the Redmanizers went on a scoring spree which the Super Diesels collapsed with four straight misses and three errors.
Fields hardly got the chance to go for the basket on account of Jones’ tight guarding.
Abe King scored Toyota’s lone field goal that put the Super Diesels ahead by five, 116-111, 2:36 remaining.
Then came Crispa’s torrent of baskets that saw the Super Diesels 13 straight points, including a five-point cluster by Guidaben, Crispa’s hero in the Redmanizers’ 126-124 win in Game 2 last Saturday.
Fabiosa started Crispa’s rally with a pair of charities off Francis Arnaiz, then Co fueled Philip Cezar for an undergoal stab, 115-116. After a Toyota miss, Co himself scored the go-ahead basket scoring on an assist by Cezar, 117-116.
After Abe King missed, he fouled Guidaben who made both charities for a 119-116 lead. Following a dribbling error by Fields, Guidaben scored off Pol Herrera and completed a three-point play that stretched Crispa’s lead to six, 122-116, 20 seconds left.
Guidaben led all scorers with 30 points, followed by Co with 26 and Jones with 10. Hardy contributed 18.
Arnaiz topscored for Toyota with 23 while Ramon Fernandez, who fouled out with more than three minutes to go, contributed 13 as five other Super Diesels scored in double figures.
“Talagang suwerre lang (we’re just lucky),” said Crispa coach Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan. “But Jones played a good game and the rest of the boys responded.”
“I think we’ll get back,” said Toyota team manager Ricky Silverio. “The spirit of the team is still there and Sonny Jaworski will be playing on Thursday.”
The individual scores:
Crispa — 126
Guidaben 30
Co 26
Jones 19
Hardy 18
Fabiosa 10
Cezar 8
Hubalde 4
Carpio 4
Dionisio 3
Varela 2
D.L. Cruz 2
Toyota — 116
Arnaiz 23
Fernandez 19
A. King 16
Florencio 13
Fields 13
Tuadles 11
V. King 10
Legaspi 3
Herrera 2
Merced 0
Quarterscores: 24-34, 55-all, 84-87, 126-116
Crispa 24 31 29 42 — 126
Toyota 34 21 32 29 — 116
Refs: J. Capers, L. Jones
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