Crispa wins, nears title
Bulletin Today
Published Friday July 9, 1976
Crispa's “Magnificent 8” worked
with chilling efficiency in the final quarter last night to turn back
Toyota, 121-114, and needs only to win Sunday's fourth game in their
best-of-five series to win the Philippine Basketball Association's
All-Filipino Conference championship at the Araneta Coliseum.
The same hardy band of eight
Redmanizers, the remnants of what before was a group of 12 first
class hardcourt performers until decimated by injuries and
suspensions, plucked victory from the jaws of defeat, outscoring the
Comets, 35-21, in the final 12 minutes for a commanding 2-1 lead in
their championship series.
The Comets appeared tantalizingly close
to sweeping the Redmanizers off the court when they led by 11, 99-88,
early in the final period on Francis Arnaiz and Rodolfo Segura's
heroics.
But no sooner had they tasted their
biggest lead for the evening when Crispa exploded on a 14-3 barrage
to level at 102-all.
Robert Jaworski grabbed the lead anew
for Toyota anew and after Segura and Fortunato Acuna put the Comets
ahead by six, 110-104, five minutes left, Crispa again reverberated
with the same courage and firmness to take the lead, 112-110, never
to relinquish it again.
In between those momentous rallies by
Crispa, Jaworski, whom Crispa coach Baby Dalupan said wrought the
most terrible havoc on the Redmanizers' defense, fouled by, followed
by Ramon Fernandez.
The tide of battle, which before swung
uncertainly from one side to the other, swiftly took a decisive turn
for Crispa.
From the moment Jaworski fouled out and
then Fernandez, Crispa riddled the Toyota defense with 15 points
against Segura's lone twinner to put the game away, 119-112, 60
seconds left.
Coach Dalupan's near-perfect shuffling
of his men produced harmony and even when the going was rough,
particularly in the fourth quarter when Toyota threatened to pull
away, the Redmanizers never lost heart.
William Adornado played his usual role,
banging a game-high 36 points, including 26 points in the first two
quarters. That gave an average of 32.3 points per game in the title
series, and when he cooled off, there was Rodolfo Soriano and
Fortunato Co who gladly took the cudgels from him.
Alberto Guidaben again was a tower off
the boards but Fernandez was not left behind this time as he matched
the Crispa center's 18-point output while hauling his own share of
the rebounds.
“I guess we were lucky,” said
Dalupan and added that if they were not, Jaworski and Fernandez would
have not fouled out. “The absence of the two broke their backs,”
he explained.
Coach Dante Silverio, on the other
hand, claimed that aside from the referees' calls that went against
them, several foul throws missed, 14 in all, contributed to their
downfall.
“The referees were calling the game
so tight it was hard for me to put up a good defense,” he said.
Sunday, the odds definitely will now be
in Crispa's favor. Not only do the Redmanizers had the psychological
edge to fall back on one more game, they will also have the services
of Philip Cezar whose suspension ends on that day.
But then, who needs Cezar at the rate
Guidaben is playing.
Bernard Fabiosa, still taking it easy
with his still painful left knee, fired 10 points, while Alfredo
Hubalde had 13.
Topscorer for Toyota was Segura, who
matched Adornado's 36 while Arnaiz contributed 26 points and Jaworski
25.
Crispa – 121
Adornado 36
Soriano 20
Co 18
Guidaben 18
Hubalde 13
Fabiosa 10
Calilan 2
Pages 2
Toyota – 114
Segura 36
Arnaiz 26
Jaworski 25
Fernandez 16
Acuna 2
Clarino 2
Tolentino 2
Bauzon 0
Rojas 0
Crispa 30 38 18 35 – 121
Toyota 33 27 33 21 – 114
Refs: E. Cruz, F. Santarina
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