The Purefoods TJ Giants outhustled the Red Bull Barakos under the boards 55-37 and James Yap and Kerby Raymundo combined for 56 points in winning game three of their best-of-seven semifinals series, 99-90, taking a 2-1 lead.

Marc Pingris finished with a career-high 19 boards to highlight Purefoods' dominance of the boards. James Yap finished with 29, including 3 three-pointers and Raymundo adde 27 as the top three guys of Purefoods played superb.

"That's (rebounding) something we did consciously because their small men always lead out for the fastbreak. That enabled us to crash the boards and we drew tremendous power from it," said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.

"Playing Red Bull is always tough. You don't know what to expect and you can't celebrate a victory for long. You relax a bit and it could prove costly," said Gregorio.

"When you play Red Bull, people tend to think they don't have the talent. But they have Cyrus Baguiowho's the best slasher in the league, Junthy Valenzuela who's an underrated No. 3 man and two bigmen (Mick Pennisi and Mike Hrabak) who can shoot the trey. Then there's coach Yeng Guiao. The reality is they're strong," Gregorio added.

Junthy Valenzuela led Red Bull with 26 markers on 9-of-12 shooting but had little help as Cyrus Baguio, who scored 14, struggled all night and fouled-out early in the fourth.

Scores:

Purefoods 99 – Yap 29, Raymundo 27, Pingris 13, Lañete 10, Simon 7, Salvador 4, Adducul 4, Castillo 3, Yap R. 2, Larong 0, Yee 0.

Red Bull 90 – Valenzuela 26, Baguio 14, Pennisi 12, Adriano 10, Cruz 7, Sharma 6, Duncil 5, Hrabak 4, Bugia 3, Ybañez 3.

Quarterscores: 28-24, 51-43, 77-68, 99-90.

2007 Rookie of the Year Kelly Williams scored 27 points, and grabbed 12 rebounds in 47 minutes to lead the Realtors past the Alaska Aces, 91-82 in game three of their best-of-seven semifinal series.

The win gives the Realtors a 2-1 series lead with game 4 Sunday at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Veteran Dennis Espino who made clutch baskets in the final quarter finished with 18 point while Joseph Yeo, who was the team's spark tonight with Ryan Reyes struggling, added 17 with 7 assists. Nelbert Omolon had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

"We started poorly, trailed at halftime but my players never lost heart. We regrouped and came out with a lot of spunk in the second half. In the end our efforts were rewarded," said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez during the post-game interview.

"We're happy to be leading. But it’s just one game. I don't want to make any pronouncement. We'll just take it one game at a time. I'm sure Alaska will be come back strong in Game 4," added Fernandez

2-time MVP Willie Miller led Alaska with a game-high 28 points, while John Ferrils added 15 points and 15 boards.

"We had the lead at halftime but we came out flat in the third quarter. We stayed in the game and kept it close in the fourth but it was too late. We gave Sta. Lucia the confidence in the third quarter," offered Tim Cone, who said his team lost it in the third.

Scores:

Sta. Lucia 91 – Williams 27, Espino 18, Yeo 17, Omolon 13, Miranda 6, Aquino 5, Reyes 3, Gonzales 2, Mamaclay 0, Coronel 0, Daa 0.

Alaska 82 – Miller 28, Ferriols 17, Cortez 10, Thoss 9, Bono 7, Cariaso 5, Laure 4, Dela Cruz 2, Quiñahan 0.

Quarterscores: 17-21; 36-41; 61-61; 91-82

The Sta. Lucia Realtors, who allowed Alaska to score 107 points in game one, this time limited the Aces to only 77 to win game two of this best-of-seven semifinals series 86-77.

Kelly Williams led the attack with 24 points and 15 rebounds, Nelbert Omolon added 16, Ryan Reyes 12 with 4 steals and Dennis Miranda 11 and 10 assists.

"We pretended to be an offensive team in Game One and we suffered the consequence. Fortunately, we’re quick to realize our mistake," said Sta. Lucia coach Boyet Fernandez.

"We made a conscious effort to limit their production. I told them we can’t beat Alaska if we allow them to score 90 points or more," Fernandez added. "Our main objective in Game Three will be the same – try to start strong, sustain it and limit Alaska’s output."

"Changes in our defensive rotation proved to be a major factor. We neutralized them by putting Ryan Reyes on Jeff Cariaso, Bitoy Omolon on Mike Cortez and Kelly Williams on Joachim Thoss," said Fernandez.

"Another key was our backcourt rotation stepping up and holding their own against Alaska’s dreaded guards in Willie Miller, Mike Cortez and Jeffrey Cariaso," Fernandez added.

Willie Miller led the Aces with 16 points.

Scores:

Sta. Lucia 86 – Williams 24, Omolon 16, Reyes 12, Miranda 11, Aquino 8, Espino 6, Yeo 3, Gonzales 3, Mendoza 3, Daa 0.

Alaska 77 – Miller 16, Thoss 14, Cariaso 13, Dela Cruz 12, Ferriols 9, Quiñahan 5, Cortez 4, Hugnatan 2, Laure 2, Aban 0, Bajar 0, Juinio 0.

Quarterscores: 17-18, 39-37, 66-55, 86-77.

Red Bull guards Cyrus Baguiofinished with 19 points and Francis Adriano and Junthy Valenzuela scored 16 apiece to lead Red Bull past Purefoods 93-89 and level their best-of-seven semifinals series at one game apiece.

Red Bull head coach Yeng Guiao said they made the necessary adjustments after losing by 19 points in the Game 1.

"We forgot to bring our defense with us in the first game. But tonight we played better defense," said Guiao during the postgame news conference.

"I don't think there will be too many blowouts like what happened in Game 1. From hereon, I guess it's going to be a defensive series. I don't think you'll see a lot of games in the 100s. Every team will try to stop the other team and not just try to outscore them," offered Guiao.

"Those guys will eventually feel the fatigue. Kerby and James are just playing too many minutes and handling the ball too many times. So I guess the longer this series goes the better for us," the Pampanga Vice-Governor explained.

James Yap finished with 29 markers to lead Purefoods, Kerby Raymundo added 18.

Scores:

Red Bull 93 -- Baguio 19, Adriano 16, Valenzuela 16, Ybañes 10, Cruz 9, Pennisi 7, Sharma 6, Hrabak 6, Najorda 2, Bugia 2.

Purefoods 89 -- James Yap 29, Raymundo 18, Lañete 10, Simon 7, Pingris 6, R. Yap 6, Evangelista 6, Adducul 3, Salvador 2, Castillo 2, Sanz, 0, Yee 0.

Quarterscores: 22-13; 44-33; 66-55; 93-89