Overconfident Sta. Lucia survives Barako Bull

Sometimes it pays the price to be overconfident. Sta. Lucia almost fell prey to it, but fortunately, had the presence of mind in the endgame to overcome Barako Bull’s upset bid with an 80-77 win in overtime Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The win was the fifth in eight outings for the Realtors, who are now in solo fourth in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup. “My players really played bad. They thought it’s already a won game over Barako Bull and they were lackadaisical tonight," said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez. “We just have to be consistent. It’s a different thing every time we play a strong team, maganda pinakikita namin pero pag lighter opponents, we play relaxed. We have to address that problem quickly." Joseph Yeo scored six of his 16 points in the extra period and the former De La Salle ace added a key assist to Nelbert Omolon down the stretch as the Realtors survived what could have been an embarrassing defeat against a squad that has now lost five straight. Gabby Espinas added 15 points and Kelly Williams 14 for the Realtors. Yousif Aljamal scattered 14 points while Chad Alonzo came off the bench to contribute 12 for the Boosters, who came into the game playing their second outing in three days after a 102-86 setback to Burger King last Friday. Sta. Lucia, coming off an emphatic 93-72 win over Barangay Ginebra, was held without a field goal in the last six minutes of regulation, and was trailing 65-59 after Gilbert Lao had a follow-up with 7:36 left to play. But the Realtors fought back, and Omolon tied the count at 66 with two free throws with 1:13 remaining. Barako Bull never scored during that span, and Aries Dimaunahan’s reverse lay-up got blocked by Gabby Espinas as time expired in regulation. Barako Bull scored the first point in overtime, but Sta. Lucia kept its poise. It unleashed a 10-4 run highlighted by two fade-away jumpers and twin charities from Yeo, a strong drive down the middle from Ryan Reyes and a basket by Espinas as the Realtors took a 76-71 advantage with 1:24 left. The Boosters were not done yet, though. Leo Najorda trimmed the deficit to within 76-73, and Gilbert Lao made it a two-point ball game after a triple (78-76) with 9.4 seconds to go. Omolon, however, drew a foul and drained his charities for an 80-76 spread. Aljamal then drew contact while attempting a three-point shot. He, however, missed his second charity after making the first, and deliberately muffed the third hoping that a miracle could happen. Barako Bull, which has already matched the two wins it registered in the 2008-09 Fiesta Conference, suffered its seventh defeat in nine games. - GMANews.TV