|
PUREFOODS and Sta. Lucia Realty gun for finals slots in Game 6 of
their respective best-of-seven semifinal series Friday in the 33rd
Smart-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Both teams survived their opponents Wednesday,
with the Giants posting a 96-59 win over the Red Bull Barakos and
the Realtors beating the Alaska Aces, 95-90.
Purefoods hopes to reach the finals for the 20th
time when it battles Red Bull at 4:50 p.m., while Sta. Lucia, eyeing
its first All-Filipino finals stint, meets Alaska at 7:20 p.m.
The Giants, owner of nine titles, are seeking
their fifth All-Filipino crown that would tie them with the
now-defunct Crispa Red-manizers in the most number of AFC trophies.
Sta. Lucia, on the other hand, is gunning for
only its second title after claiming the Governors Cup in 2001. Its
best finish in the All-Filipino conference was third in 1995 and
1997.
“We will go for it tomorrow and we will give
our best shot for it,” said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez, who
took over the Realtors bench from Alfrancis Chua in the Fiesta
Conference last year.
Fernandez said his team needs to focus more on
defense in Game 6 and try to limit at least Alaska’s top gun
Willie Miller, the conference’s leading scorer with 23.3 points a
game.
“Alaska is a very experienced team that’s
why we have to be ready because they will try to come back,” added
Fernandez, who steered the Realtors to their first semifinal
appearance since the 2003 Reinforced Conference.
-- Frank Calapre
|
