Rafi Reavies took over in the absence of the ejected Raymundo, providing the points, inspiration and energy the Giants needed in a big 103-84 win over the San Miguel Beermen that leveled their KFC-PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series.
The lanky, 6-foot-7 Reavis led the team in scoring with 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots in the lopsided Game 2 win at the packed Astrodome.
Both teams will eye to break the 1-1 deadlock when Game 3 is played on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
“We came out flat the last time," said Reavis of the Giants’ 88-93 loss to the Beermen in the opener. “But we just know how to beat these guys."
Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio agreed with his big man.
“Our legs were not present in Game 1. Luckily, today we played with tremendous effort, we defended well and we made a lot of stops," he said.
The Giants took the initiative early on and led, 28-21, in the opening quarter.
But they appeared to have hit a wall in the 4:11 mark of the second period when two successive technical fouls led to Raymundo’s ejection.
Tossed out
The former Letran stalwart first incurred a technical for his constant complaining, and then, got into a physical contact with referee Nestor Sambrano while on his way back to the Purefoods bench, leading to his outright expulsion from the court.
But not even that could deter the Giants.
They held on to a 14-point lead at the break, and then stretched it to as many as a 21-point edge at 81-60 on a lay up by James Yap early into the final quarter.“It’s nice to finally win over San Miguel," admitted Gregorio, whose Giants have lost all their two games against the Beermen in the eliminations.
“But we have to win three more games. We just cut the series into a best-of-five. There’s nothing special with this win.
James Yap and KG Canaleta each had 17 for the Giants, while Roger Yap added 15, plus five rebounds and four assists.
Raymundo ended up scoreless for Purefoods, ending a long eight-year streak where he scored at least a point for the team.
The last time the starting center failed to score in a Giants uniform came in August 10, 2002 opposite Shell when he came out of the game due to an injury.
Danny Seigle had a team-high 16 points for the Beermen while Arwind Santos made 13 markers and 12 rebounds, his three-pointer with 6:59 left in the game putting San Miguel to within 70-81.
But James Yap sparked a 12-1 Purefoods run, which he capped with a trey as the Giants pulled away for good, 93-71. - GMANews.TV
The Scores:
Purefoods 103 - Reavis 20, Canaleta 17, Yap J. 17, Yap R. 15, Artadi 12, Maierhofer 9, Pingris 7, Simon 2, Adducul 2, Allado 2, Salvador 0, Raymundo 0.
San Miguel 84 - Seigle 16, Santos 13, Hontiveros 13, Washington 10, Custodio 8, Ildefonso 7, Cortez 6, Racela 5, Villanueva 4, Miranda 2, Pennisi 0, Pena 0.
Quarters: 28-21, 50-36, 73-59, 103-84.
Source: Author Unknown | GMANews.TV
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