i TV Pinoy

Source: gmanews.tv

-- Losers in four of their last six outings, the Sta. Lucia Realtors finally get something going.

On Friday night, the Realtors vented their ire on the Coca-Cola Tigers, 98-92, to stay in the hunt for either a semifinals or quarterfinals berth in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Kelly Williams played his usual steady game, finishing with 23 points, but it was undrafted rookie Josh Urbiztondo, a walk in applicant, who stole the spotlight for the Realtors.

Urbiztondo contributed 23 points to make up for Ryan Reyes and veteran Paolo Mendoza’s sub par performances to give the Realtors the much-needed lift in securing their sixth win in 11 games.

"When tryouts came, Josh really played well. His entry was a perfect timing since we just unloaded Denok Miranda," said Fernandez.

It was a highly-physical encounter between the two teams, which got in a pre-season trade that sent long-time Realtor Dennis Espino to the Tigers and Jason Misolas to the Realtors.

Coca-Cola forward Ricky Calimag was called for a hard foul opposite Williams, who was sent crashing to the floor with still more than eight minutes to go.

Williams shook off his hard fall, converting two free throws for an 81-71 lead and Sta. Lucia was never seriously threatened from there.

With the win, the Realtors brought themselves back in contention for a quarterfinals berth – a task which Fernandez said is doable.

"Sabi ko sa players ko, objctive naming is to make it to the top five, if we make it to the semis bonus na yun," said Fernandez.