Sta. Lucia, Rain or Shine move a win away from Fiesta Cup semis

MANILA, Philippines – Sta. Lucia Realty moved a win away from advancing into the semifinals of the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup after turning back Burger King, 93-84, Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum. Despite playing hurt with a groin injury, import Anthony Johnson came away with 22 points, 13 of them in the payoff period, and grabbed a second straight 24-rebound effort to go with 5 blocks to give the Realtors the headstart in their best-of-three quarterfinal series. Providing solid support was Norman Gonzales, who came off the bench to contribute 17 points that included a brilliant 10-for-10 at the free throw line. “It’s only one game. We still have to win one more," said Realtors’ coach Boyet Fernandez. “I know for sure that they (Whoppers) will try to adjust, so I hope my guys will be ready." Game 2 is set on Wednesday, and another victory will propel Sta. Lucia into a best-of-7 match-up with top-seeded San Miguel Beer in the semifinals. Rain or Shine nears Final Four In the second game, Rain or Shine claimed its first-ever franchise win in the playoffs with a 96-87 win over Purefoods in Game 1 of their own race-to-two series. The Elasto Painters thus moved into a good position to reach the semifinals for the first time in franchise history with a win in Game 2. Winner of the RoS-Purefoods tussle will tangle with defending champion Barangay Ginebra in the Final Four. “Everybody stepped up, maybe we just need one more big game on Wednesday," said RoS coach Caloy Garcia. “Purefoods is an experienced team. Maybe the next game they will come back with a different attitude." Jai Lewis carried Rain or Shine on his shoulders with 26 points, 17 rebounds and four assists, ably supported by Rob Wainwright’s 16 on a 4-of-8 clip from the arc and Gabe Norwood’s 10 points and six feeds. The Giants’ fall was hastened by the offensive drought from top gunners Kerby Raymundo and James Yap, who both averaged 16 points prior to game but were limited to a combined 13 Sunday. Raymundo was 0-for-7 while Yap was 0-for-6. Whoppers way off usual game The Elasto Painters opened up leads of as many as 22 points but the Giants clawed back to within 88-82 at the 2:42 mark. Lewis, however, doused cold water on Purefoods’ rally with a clutch basket followed by back-to-back baskets from Mark Isip that sealed the win. Burger King's reliable import Shawn Daniels collected 22 points and 20 rebounds – his 12th double-double for the conference - and Arwind Santos finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds in the Whoppers' losing cause. Santos, however, committed six turnovers. Gary David added 14 points and Mark Yee scored 10 for Burger King. Still, what looked like a balanced scoring performance by the Whoppers turned out to be way, way far behind from their usual game. Burger King was held to 22 points below its normal scoring output of 106.1 points per game (ppg), and the obvious reason being the defense of Sta. Lucia, which applied a choking block on the Whoppers’ running game. Sta. Lucia limited Burger King’s fastbreak output to only 12, even outscoring the enemy with its 19 points on the run, and forced the Whoppers to let loose shots with low percentages. In the end, the Whoppers shot a miserable 28-for-79 (35.4 percent). The Realtors also outrebounded the Whoppers (57-50), a surprising statistic since Sta. Lucia Realty again saw action without its MVP Kelly Williams, who is still recovering from a rare blood disorder. It was Sta. Lucia’s first back-to-back win since Williams was placed on sick bay after the PBA All-Stars. Burger King started out strong, but failed to finish in the same manner. It led 10-2 early in the first quarter before Sta. Lucia uncorked a 23-2 blast to close the opening period, claiming a 23-12 advantage. The Realtors led by as much as 13 points and were keeping the Whoppers at bay when Wynne Arboleda connected on a jumper and Mark Yee knocked in a foul shot to close the gap to 71-69 with 10:35 in the fourth. But Johnson came through with two powerful dunks in a 9-0 counter-assault, and when Burger King once again threatened at 84-80, he again came to the rescue by sinking two free throws off a flagrant foul-1 by Beau Belga with 3:25 left. Dennis Espino then pulled up and nailed down a jumper to make it 88-80, time down to 2:21. – GMANews.TV