By Reuel Vidal

YOU can teach old dogs new tricks.

The Sta. Lucia Realtors, better known as a defense-oriented squad, relied on a newfound, high-octane offense to rout the Barako Bull Energy Boosters, 100-91, in the Motolite Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Realtors exploited the stricter hand-check rule by the PBA to penetrate inside the paint at will, scoring most of their paints from close range to tally the easy victory.

Sta. Lucia import Anthony Johnson relied on an explosive first step to score 43 points. Except for a triple early in the second period, Johnson scored all of his points on layups and dunks.

Kelly Williams and Marlou Aquino had 21 and 14, points respectively.

The Realtors thus hiked their record to three wins against a single loss, which put them solidly in third place behind the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants (2-0) and the San Miguel Beermen (2-0).

The Barako Bulls (1-3) dropped to ninth place behind the Burger King Titans (2-1), the Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters (2-1), the Talk N Text Tropang Texters (1-2), the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings (1-2), and the Coca-Cola Tigers (1-2).

The Alaska Aces are alone at the bottom of the standings with three straight losses.

The Energy Boosters opened the payoff fourth period by scoring eight straight points, capped by a fastbreak layup by import Scooter McFadgon, to cut the Sta. Lucia lead to only six points, 76-70, with still 10:16 to go.

But the Realtors lowered the boom on the Boosters, making a 14-2 run to virtually seal the outcome of the match, 90-72, with just 6:08 to go in the game.

McFadgon didn’t do too badly for Barako Bull with 38 markers. Other double-digit scorers for the Energy Boosters were Gabby Espinas and Paolo Hubalde with identical 11 markers.

Johnson followed up his own miss to cap a 12-2 Sta. Lucia run which pushed the Realtors ahead, 56-54, with 8:50 to go in the third period. In all, Johnson tallied 16 third-quarter points, all on layups against the non-existent defense of the Boosters, to power the Realtors to a 74-62 advantage after the third period.

The Scores:

Sta. Lucia 100—Johnson 43, Williams 21, Aquino 14, Reyes 8, Espino 5, Omolon 4, Yeo 3, Daa 2, Coronel 0, Miranda 0, Gonzales 0, Mendoza 0.

Barako Bull 91—Mcfadgon 38, Espinas 11, Hubalde 11, Chan 9, Juntilla 8, Sharma 6, Arigo 4, Najorda 2, Crisano 2, Holper 0, Hrabak 0.  

Quarterscores: 24-24, 44-52, 76-62, 100-91.