Toyota won the first of their two-game farewell series against Crispa in Guam behind Abe King and Robert Jaworski. The Super Corollas played their sendoff tour without star center Ramon Fernandez.
Toyota bombs Crispa
‘The boys were determined’
By Bert Eljera
Tempo
Published Tuesday March 6, 1984
GUAM, March 5 (via Philcom) — Toyota, trying to leave behind the legacy of a true champion, played with its old fire Sunday to humble Crispa, 109-101 in a game filled with the color of their past encounters before a highly-enthusiastic crowd here.
It was close all the way and the match was decided in the last four minutes — as in most of their past encounters — with the Corollas finishing strong and the Redmanizers turning ice-cold.
Abe King, sizzling from afar, fired a game-high 32 points. Arnulfo Tuadles had 23 and nine rebounds, six of them offensive, but it was Robert Jaworski, playing with a sense of mission, who personally assured the victory.
Jaworski scored on a drive and then drilled in a crucial three-point shot to spark a 10-0 wind-up as Toyota clawed back from 99-101 down to win pulling away in what many had considered an upset.
The Redmanizers, finishing like lost lambs, were held to two free throws in the last four minutes and self destructed in a maze of errors while completely falling to exploit Toyota’s foul trouble.
“The boys were determined. We needed the game more,” said assistant coach Quirino Salazar.
Jaworski, who finished with 19 points, said that the game had more meaning to them.
“There was a sense of togetherness. The spirit was still there. Both teams played hard but the breaks went with us,” he said.
“Toyota shot better in the second half. We also tended to relax when we were ahead,” said Crispa assistant coach Narciso Bernardo for his part.
It was also a sort of a moral victory for Toyota which showed that it can beat Crispa even without prized center Ramon Fernandez.
Jaworski, whose running feud with Fernandez is an open secret, did not stress this, however and simply said that the Corollas played with more determination.
“I spent the best years of my career with Toyota. I’m sad that it has to end this way,” he said.
Crispa, dominating the rebounds in the first half, led by as many as eight points, 39-31 but the Corollas came back in no tome and even led by nine, 87-78 in the third quarter.
It looked as if the Redmanizers had the game in the bag when the Corollas went into penalty situation with still five minutes to go while they had still five fouls to use up.
But after Philip Cezar canned in two free shots with 3:50 to go, the Redmanizers went scoreless. Cezar and Alberto Guidaben committed two passing errors and it was the end for Crispa.
“They wanted to show they are still one of the best teams,” said Fortunato Co, Jr., who led Crispa with 25 points.
The individual scores:
Toyota (109) — King 32, Tuadles 23, Jaworski 19, Arnaiz 18, Loyzaga 9, Relosa 6, Legaspi 2, Coloso 0, Herrera 0, Florencio 0.
Crispa (101) — Co 25, Guidaben 23, Cezar 16, Fabiosa 12, Hubalde 9, Villamin 7, Cristobal 6, Israel 2, Esguerra 0, Lim Eng Beng 0.
Quarterscores: 29-31, 55-58, 85-78, 109-101.
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