Toyota finally defeated Crispa in the deciding fifth game of a championship series to rule the 1981 PBA Open Conference.
Toyota beats Crispa, 103-97, wins PBA title
By Philip Evardone
Bulletin Today
Published Sunday July 26, 1981
Ramon Fernandez and Andrew Fields each scored three points in the dying seconds last night as Toyota finally ended a long, frustrating search for the PBA Open Conference crown with a suspenseful 103-97 win over arch-rival Crispa before a sweltering crowd of some 30,000 at the Araneta Coliseum.
Fernandez and Fields’ point shattered a 97-all tie forged by Philip Cezar with three minutes and 16 seconds left and gave the Super Diesels their seventh PBA championship.
The 6’4’’ Fernandez jumped off Cezar, 99-97, then cooly sank a free throw on a technical foul slapped on Crispa’s Fortunato Co, Jr., before Fields scored the insurance points on a three-point play off James Hardy, 1:29 remaining.
With still seconds to go, the overflow crowd started to spill into the court and threatened to disrupt the game.
Huge banners hailing the new champions were unfurled all over the Big Dome and confetti rained down from the rafters.
In the first game, the U-Tex Wranglers downed San Miguel Beer, 128-122, also in the fifth and final game to win third place.
“The big factor was the tremendous development and confidence of my shock absorbers,” said the sweat-bathed Toyota coach Eddie Ocampo with tears streaming from his eyes in reference to the heads-up play of Nicanor Bulaong.
“We know very well that Crispa had a deeper bench but one of the reasons why we had lost a lot of games in the eliminations was because I had given more playing time to my second stringers,” explained the 47-year-old former Ateneo star.
“As I said before, the only chance to beat Crispa was for us to work together. And the referees never lost their concentration even for a single moment,” Ocampo added.
Toyota had never beaten Crispa in three of their nine title playoffs since 1975 that were decided in the fifth and final game.
But last night, there was no denying the Super Diesels of the title which had eluded them since they won their first Open title in 1975, the league’s maiden year.
Toyota, loser in each of the three conference finals last year, had the upperhand practically all the way and the Super Diesels refused to cave in even when Crispa took the lead, 79-77, late in the third quarter.
“It’s rather sad that we played badly when the championship was at stake,” said Crispa coach Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan.
“When Toyota ran into penalty trouble with still five minutes left, I thought we had the game won,” Dalupan said. “But unfortunately we failed to capitalize on it.”
Dalupan added: “The technical foul on Atoy I think cost us the game. Parang nawalan na nang gana at fighting spirit pagkatapos ng tawag na ‘yon.
“To make matters worse, Hardy sprained his ankle when he was needed most,” said Dalupan, who was gunning for his 29th major title since 1955.
It was the fourth time Toyota had beaten Crispa in team championship showdowns since 1975, marking also the seventh time that the Super Diesels had won a title playoff in 15 conferences that they reached the finals.
It was also Toyota’s 47th victory in 103 meetings with Crispa in Asia’s only play-for-pay loop.
Ironically, Crispa emerged with a higher shooting percentage from the field with a 44 percent clip from the field, hitting 37 of 85 attempts while Toyota had a 43 percent clip, making good 38 of 88 tries.
Crispa also outrebounded Toyota, 58-49, but the Super Diesels had fewer errors, committing 11 compared to Crispa’s 16.
But the great difference turned out to be the performance of the imports as Fields and Victor King both outplayed their Crispa counterparts — Hardy and Byron “Snake” Jones — with Fields pulling down 16 rebounds, seven blocked shots and King hauling in 10 and one blocked shot.
Hardy had only eight rebounds and one assist while Jones had 10 caroms, one assist and two steals.
The individual scores:
Toyota — 103
Fernandez 20
Fields 18
Bulaong 13
Jaworski 13
Arnaiz 12
Florencio 9
V. King 8
Tuadles 8
A. King 2
Herrera 0
Legaspi 0
Crispa — 97
Cezar 20
Fabiosa 18
Hardy 17
Jones 13
Guidaben 12
Co 11
Hubalde 8
Carpio 0
Varela 0
Mamaril 0
De la Cruz 0
Dionisio 0
Quarterscores: 28-27, 59-55, 81-79, 103-97
Toyota 28 31 22 22 — 103
Crispa 27 28 24 18 — 97
Refs: J. Capers, L. Jones
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