MANILA, 3 April 2008 — A fine defensive gem capped one of the greatest offensive debuts by an import in recent PBA memory.
Darius Rice stole an entry pass and then went coast-to-coast for a layup in the final 6.2 seconds that resulted in a 127-126 double overtime victory by Purefoods over Magnolia in the Fiesta Cup eliminations last night at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Rice dropped 56 big points, making for one of the finest first games by any import in the modern PBA time as the Tender Juicy Giants recovered after blowing control in regulation by actually rallying from a five-point deficit in the second extra session.
“What can I say, it was a great game,” Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio later said. “Right from the time he planed in, we knew that we had a scorer as an import. We just didn’t know that he would explode right in his first game.”
The slender Rice, a nephew of American football Hall-of-Famer Jerry Rice, hit 6-of-17 three-point attempts, canned 12-of-14 free throws, had eight rebounds and that telling steal as Purefoods survived the Beverage Masters.
For Magnolia, it was the same heart-rending refrain for such a powerhouse squad that underwent another massive buildup just two weeks before the tournament started by making three key acquisitions.
Purefoods actually bungled a chance to win it in the first extension when Kerby Raymundo muffed what looked like an easy reverse layup with the game clock winding down.
That miss resulted in new acquisition Mike Cortez grabbing possession and speeding to the other end of the floor only to lose his footing and seal a second extension.
Back-to-back three-pointer by Dondon Hontiveros and a twisting lay-up by Marc Pingris against a lone triple by James Yap ushered the Beverage Masters to a five-point bubble heading into the final 3:40.
But Rice completed a three-point play off the final foul of Jameel Watkins and Roger Yap split his charities off Cortez which paved the way for the winning lay-up by the former National Basketball Association Development League MVP.
The total of Rice, a former standout at the University of Miami , was just a point short of the highest individual output of an import in the last four years, or since former Best Import Derrick Brown, another Purefoods reinforcement, chalked up 57 in losing to Sta. Lucia, 99-120, on April 25, 2004.
Hontiveros led the Beverage Masters with 29 points, while Watkins finished with 23 before fouling out. James Yap contributed 20 for Purefoods, with Enrico Villanueva chipping in 14.
It was a great debut for the Giants, the Philippine Cup runners-up to Sta. Lucia, as they kept in step with the Realtors, who were also impressive in opening up their bid to win back-to-back titles for the first time in franchise history.
Import Wesley Wilson also carried the fight for the Realtors’ 93-86 come-from-behind victory over the defending champion Alaska Aces in the first game.
Wilson, who first played for defunct Shell four years ago, collected 24, had 13 rebounds, blocked six shots but also committed 10 boo-boos in 38 minutes for Sta. Lucia, which hopes to make this season a truly banner year by sweeping both tournaments.
The 6-foot-11 Wilson ‘s 10 turnovers were a season high. But coach Boyet Fernandez seemed somewhat unmindful of this fact.
“I appreciate the effort he turned in,” Fernandez, who picked up his first championship, both as a player and coach when he steered the Realtors to a stirring Game 7 win over Purefoods in the Philippine Cup Finals, said.
“It’s still a big win and a good start for us,” he continued. “I don’t think that we have a (championship) hangover. It could just be first game jitters.”
Fernandez said that his team’s motivation in this tournament is to win a first-ever back-to-back championship for the franchise.
“Nobody expected us to win the last conference, but now people expect us to win. We don’t want to frustrate them so we have to continue working hard,” said Fernandez.
