Purefoods Pounds Red bull, Takes series opener

The smallest giant proved to the tallest.

Purefoods prized rookie, Chico Lanete scored 16 points in the third quarter going 4 out of 5 from the three point line and helping Purefoods take game 1 in the best of seven series againts Red bull 103-84. Lanete finished with 18 points, six rebounds and one steal in only 17 minutes of action.

"Chico is a big-time player. He knows when to light up. He’ll be a marked man next time but he will find ways to score," said Gregorio of his prized acquisition from the rookie free-agent pool.

After an 11 day hiatus, their incentive after gaining an automatic semis slot, Purefoods showed no sign of rust. "You get rusty only if you allow yourself to be. If it happens, it means you didn’t do your assignments," said Coach Ryan Gregorio of the TJ Giants.

Kerby Raymundo started the onslaught as he scored 10 points in the first quarter, as Purefoods led from the start and never relinquishing their lead.

Although Red Bull stayed within the striking distance as Purefoods was only ahead by 4 points going into halftime, this paved way for Lanete’s third quarter explosion.

This is Purefoods first win against Red bull this conference and also snaps the Giants two game losing streak.

"I think we went up against a battle-weary Red Bull. We came out strong and did a good job staying close with their shooters," said Gregorio.

"But Game Two is gonna be different. The two-day rest will give them enough time to rest. They’re always tough to beat because they have a big fighting heart," added Gregorio. "The only advantage that I can see right now is that we only need to win three games. They need to win four."

Marc Pingris added 14 points and 11 rebounds. While James Yap contributed 11 points.(BCN)

The scores:

Purefoods 103 – Raymundo 24, Lanete 18, Pingris 14, Yap R. 12, Yap J. 11, Yee 8, Simon 7, Adducul 5, Evangelista 4, Sanz 0.

Red Bull 84 – Valenzuela 15, Najorda 11, Baguio 10, Bugia 8, Sharma 8, Adriano 8, Hrabak 6, Ybanez 5, Duncil 4, Robinson 3, Cruz 3, Pennisi 3.

Quarterscores: 29-16, 48-44, 88-63, 103-84.

Sharapova wins Australian Open Captures her third grand slam title

Maria Sharapova treated her loss last year in the Australian open as her motivation in this year’s edition of grand slam and the result is very different from last year.

Sharapova beat Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 7-5, 6-3 in the finals of the the Austalian Open. But before playing in the finals Sharapova beat no. 1 Justine Henin in a dominating fashion nobody espected and then cruised to an easy victory against no. 3 Jelena Jankovic.

Serving at 2-2 in the first set, Ivanovic set up double break point with a double fault, then sent a forehand long.

After holding serve the first three times at love, Sharapova committed three double faults while serving at 4-3 to hand the game to Ivanovic.

"I didn't get impatient," Sharapova said. "She's two points away from winning the first set in a Grand Slam final. If you want it, take it. And she didn't."

From 3-3 in the second set, Sharapova ran off the last three games again, breaking Ivanovic for the fourth time to finish the match.

Pinays Win World Cup of Golf

The Philippine team composed of Jennifer Rosales and Dorothy Delasin captured the Women’s World Cup crown in Sun City, South Africa Sunday after making crucial birdie putts in the closing holes.

The Philippines’ final round output matched its first round score under the same format and counting its four-under 68 card in the alternate-shot Saturday, it finished with a 54-hole aggregate of 18-under par 198, beating Korea’s 200.

Delasin a veteran campaigner in the LPGA tour birdied the last three shots in the better-ball format as the RP golfers battled back from two shots down at the backside to turn back the faltering Koreans.

The win proved to be the Philippines biggest golf championship ever worth a whopping $280,000 (P11.2 million).

“This is a very big day for the Philippines and for golf in the country,” Delasin said.”This win is for all the Filipinos around the world.”

“It was a real team effort,” said Delasin’s teammate Jennifer Rosales, a two-time LPGA winner.” The win hasn’t really sunk in at the moment, maybe it will when we have a few beers later. I loved the pressure of having to make each putt and I’m glad I came here to compete with my partner.”

The Filipinos and the Koreans started the day tied for the lead but Shin Ji-yai and Ji Eun-hee wrested a two-shot lead at the turn with a bogey-free 33 as Delasin and Rosales stumbled with a bogey on the par-5 No. 5 against two birdies for a 35.

Japan and Taiwan tied for third on 13-under 203.

Tar heels dropped to fifth after loss

AP top 25

After ten polls of being the no. 1 team, North Carolina Tar Heels dropped to fifth after their upset loss to Maryland Saturday night.

Memphis (17-0) took the no. 1 ranking and it’s their first since 1983, they moved up one spot with 49 first-place votes and 1,777 points from the 72-member national media panel. Kansas, Tennessee and Duke are ranked second, third and fourth respectively.

Washington St., Indiana, UCLA, Georgetown and Michigan rounds up the top ten.

Maryland upsets no. 1 North Carolina

Maryland Terrapins deals North Carolina its first loss of the Season with an 82-80 win last sunday (manila time) in Chapel Hill. Nobody expected that this average Maryland team would give North Carolina its first loss. UNC previously escaped Clemson and Georgia Tech with a close win but this they could not get the job done. This loss will most likely cost them their number ranking in the nation. Memphis and Kansas are the only unbeaten teams in division 1 this season.

"Well I haven't done a very good job with this basketball team the last couple of weeks" said UNC Coach Roy Williams, referring to how the Tar Heels could not get the stops they need in the crucial moment of the game. "We've been living on the edge, and it caught up with us today" Williams added.

Like the Clemson game North Carolina had the chance to steal the win after Maryland scored on a basket and capture the lead with 21 seconds left on a Bambale Osby' lay up. But that proved to be the game's winning basket as North Carolina failed to score on three attemps. Wayne Ellington North Carolina's hero on the Clemson game missed a three point attempt and a lay up while Tyler Hansbrough missed a last second three pointer.

James Gist led Maryland with 22 points while Tyler Hansbrough had 17 points and 14 rebounds for North Carolina

Tar Heels win again, off to their best start since 1983-84

The University of North Carolina Tar heels posted their 18^th win in a row with a 83-82 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, but not the smooth sailing win everybody expected. Georgia Tech yellow jackets gave an inspiring play in an attempt to upset the top rank tar heels but their best is still wasn’t enough.

With the game tied at 82, Danny Green, Tar Heel’s super sub grabbed a rebound from a Georgia tech missed shot and in doing so was fouled with 22 seconds remaining, Green hit 1 of his 2 foul shots which proved to be the final score. But Green was not finished yet, he blocked the supposedly game winning shot of tech’s Zack Peacock. Peacock recovered the ball but still missed his last shot.

Tyler Hansbrough UNC’s Junior All American finished with 27 point and 11 rebounds. He continuously pounded the ball through the basket and had 15 free throws making 13 of them.

This is UNC’s first win in Atlanta since coach Roy Williams return to Carolina prior to the 2003-04 season.

Tar Heels Receive 5 Commitments in Just 10 Days

An unprecedented feat that was never heard before was accomplished by the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, when they received another verbal for their fifth recruit in just 10 days. This Monday morning (Sunday evening in the US) Dexter Strickland considered the no. 1 point guard of the 2009 class committed to the tar heels after they got commitments from John Henson, Travis and David Wears, and Reggie Bullock all are considered five stars recruit.

North Carolina which is currently the no. 1 in the nation also has commitments from Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller (both are five-star recruit) and Larry Drew (four-star recruit) from the 2008 class. Also Kendall Marshall a top ten player of the 2010 class committed to the tar heels early last September.

Many recruiting analyst believe that the tar heels roster is already set til the 2009-2010 season.