Toyota beat Crispa in a non-bearing
semifinal match before the start of their best-of-five title series
in the 1976 PBA Second Conference. The game also saw Crispa star Bogs
Adornado reinjuring his knee in return from a one-month absence.
Toyota trims Crispa, 109-102
By Ding Marcelo
Bulletin Today
Published Thursday November 11, 1976
Toyota captured top semifinal honors
last night as the Comets outplayed Crispa in the last three minutes,
109-102, in a game surprisingly marked by extreme cautiousness by
both sides at the Araneta Coliseum.
Short of possibly and practically
exchanging pleasantries on the court, the Comets and the Redmanizers
went through the motions of finishing this final game of the
semifinals which had no bearing as the two teams have already
arranged a showdown for the second conference title in a best-of-five
series beginning tomorrow.
U-Tex closed out with a 141-117
thumping of winless Royal Tru-Orange for a 3-3 card. Royal finished
with a 0-6 card.
The Wranglers and the Orangemen will
clash in their own best-of-five series for third place which will
serve as the opening match for the Crispa-Toyota title affair.
Romualdo Cabading of U-Tex led all
scorers last night with 34 points.
Crispa led by 15 points twice, 45-30,
and 49-34, but the more serious Toyota five pecked at the lead with
consuming energy to eventually lead, 91-89, 8 minutes left, which
they preserved down the wire.
The only major casualty in the game,
other than Crispa's dented pride, was William Adornado, the
Redmanizers' scoring ace who played for exactly five seconds at the
second quarter before retiring when he reinjured his right knee.
He had been out of action for a month
until coach Baby Dalupan decided to use him, a decision he probably
regretted.
A torn ligament on Adornado's knee
somehow was not fully healed and a rupture was feared by the PBA
physician. He is not expected to play the best-of-five series.
“Ewan ko ba,” Adornado said as he
contemplated his misfortune on the bench. “Ngayon lang sumakit ito.
Magaling na ito. Hindi ko nga maintindihan,” he said as his team
started to wilt before his eyes.
Even Toyota coach Dante Silverio was
seemingly more concerned on preserving the health of his starters as
he allowed such second stringers as Rolando Marcelo, Elias Tolentino,
Aurelio Clarino and Jake Rojas practically feasting on the floor with
their new found vigor.
It was Fortunato Acuna, however, who
finally stopped a strong Crispa rally in the last two minutes as he
banged in four of the Comets' closing 6-0 barrage for a final 109-102
count after the Redmanizers had closed in at 102-103 behind Fortunato
Co and William Bunton's five successive points.
Co had a game-high 20 points, 10 of
them in the final quarter, as he tried to hold the fort for the
Redmanizers as the others visibly cooled off.
Errors came in torrents from both sides
but the Redmanizers had more obvious ones and Dalupan could only
shake his head from his apparent helplessness.
Howard Smith led all Toyota scorers
with 20 while Byron “Snake” Jones had 14 and Francis Arnaiz 13.
Robert Jaworski, whose three-game
suspension was lifted together with Crispa's Bernard Fabiosa, did not
see action reportedly because of flu.
The win gave the Comets a 17-16 edge
over the Redmanizers in their continuing series.
Toyota – 109
Smith 20
Jones 14
Arnaiz 13
Fernandez 12
Acuna 8
Marcelo 8
Tolentino 8
Bauzon 6
Clarino 6
Segura 6
Cortez 4
Rojas 4
Toyota – 102
Co 20
P. Cezar 14
Soriano 13
Mann 12
Guidaben 12
Hubalde 10
Bunton 9
Calilan 4
Franco 4
Dionisio 2
Fabiosa 2
Adornado 0
Toyota 20 27 34 28 – 109
Crispa 23 34 22 23 – 102
Refs: E. Cruz, R. Bartolome
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