Game 115: Toyota 130, Crispa 114 (Sept. 4, 1982)

Toyota beat Crispa in their first elimination round meeting in the 1982 PBA Open Conference despite the absence of import Andy Fields, Robert Jaworski and Abe King.

Toyota crushes Crispa, 130-114

By Rey Bancod

Tempo

Published Sunday Sept. 5, 1982

Undermanned Toyota, playing one of its finest games in a long, long time, last night spoiled the debut of Crispa’s new imports with a crunching 130-114 conquest of the Redmanizers in the PBA Open tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Super Corollas played without ace import Andy Fields, who came down with the flu. That, plus the fact that playmaker Robert Jaworski and rebound king Abe King remained in the inactive list, made Toyota’s victory a shocker.

Donnie Koonce, the 6-3 sweet-shooting half of Toyota’s import combination, presided over the Corollas’ running attack, pumping 44 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in a prodigious performance that had the crowd roaring throughout.

Koonce fired 25 points in the first half and set off Toyota’s blazing breakaway in the third quarter with flawless jumpers. With Ramon Fernandez, Danny Florencio and Francis Arnaiz lending support, Koonce went to town with his hot hands to push Toyota to an unbeatable, 115-94 lead, with 5:55 left.

In the first game, N-Rich rolled to its fourth straight win by dealing hard-lucked Galerie Dominique its third defeat in a row, 98-92.

“I knew it would be tough without Fields, but I told my boys to fight,” Toyota coach Ed Ocampo said.

And fight they did as the Corollas erased a 29-40 first quarter deficit to forge ominously ahead, 57-55, at the half.

As Crispa wilted under Toyota’s pressing defense, the Corollas made mincemeat of the Redmanizers ‘ anemic guarding, taking a 97-86 bulge going into the final 12 minutes of play.

“Masyadong mabilis ang mga Corollas,” a dejected Baby Dalupan said later. “And my new imports have yet to blend with the team. We need at least three more games to blend.”

The Creamers shot better from the field, converting 43 of 81 attempts for a high 53 per cent shooting clip.

The scores:

Toyota (130) — Koonce 44, Arnaiz 21, Florencio 13, Saldana 8, Relosa 6, Herrera 5, Tuadles 4, Cordero 2.

Crispa (114) — Brown 21, Cezar 20, Co 19, Wright 15, Fabiosa 14, Guidaben 13, Hubalde 13, Cristobal 8, Israel 0.

Quarterscores: 29-40, 57-55, 97-86, 130-114.