PROVING he deserves to represent the national team, Ranidel De Ocampo showed his best form Sunday night to single-handedly carry the Air21 Express back to PBA-KFC Philippine Cup’s Magic 5.

De Ocampo, scoring mostly at will and outplaying all defender, fired 11 of his 23 points in third quarter to guide the Air21 Express to an impressive 97-88 victory against the reigning champion Sta. Lucia Realtors at the Araneta Coliseum.

“You just have to look and prove why you are in the national team,” said De Ocampo, who shot 7-of-12 in the field to go along with nine rebounds and seven assists. “Their defense is very tough, so I have to deal with it very tough too.”

De Ocampo, together with teammate Arwind Santos, was considered by national mentor Yeng Guiao to become part of the 14-man RP team that will compete in the FIBA World qualifying championship next year in Guangzhou, China.

‘Magic 5′

With the win, the Express, who also routed the Realtors in their early meeting (107-83), have improved their win-loss card to 8-7 and gain solo fifth place behind Alaska Milk (10-4), San Miguel Beer (9-6), Rain or Shine (9-6) and Talk n Text (8-6).

“Our target is to make the top five, nothing less,” said Air21 coach Bo Perasol after his Express made it back-to-back after beating Ginebra last Wednesday. “We don’t want No. 6 because it’s just like No. 9.”

Guard Gary David, who averaged almost 18 points per game, scattered 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the field along with five boards and four assists, while Arwind Santos and Homer Se finished with 14 points apiece.

Niño KG Canaleta made 12 points and tallied 10 rebounds also for the Express.

The Realtors, who drew 27 points from Kelly Williams, suffered a second straight defeat and slid to joint seventh with the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants at 7-8. Dennis Espino’s near triple double of 13 points, 10 boards and seven assists also went to naught.

‘Motivation’

“Our motivation really was reaching the Magic Five. This is not a game that we can bounce back next time. We must treat this very crucial. We knew the result of this game would have a great impact in our bid,” said Perasol.

“We’re back in the top half of the standings. Our goal now is to stay there up to the finish to avoid the wildcard round. We know how tough to go through that phase.”

The game was not that so easy for the Express, though.

The Express had to go through 11 deadlocks and 11 lead changes before finally disposing of the Realtors.

Santos scored nine straight points in the payoff frame, pushing the Express ahead to stay at 82-76 and never look back.

‘Mighty second half’

Sta. Lucia Realty threatened for the last time at 86-89 before De Ocampo and David knocked in back-to-back baskets to eventually win the game for Air21 at 93-86 with a minute left to play.

Air21’s mighty second half earned them some edge, as the Express outscored them 28-22 in third and 31-26 at fourth.

The Express forced the Realtors to 32 turnovers which they gained 28 points. They also led the second chance points (10-7), steals (7-2) and fast break points (17-5).

Air21 finished with 40-of-79 total field goal shooting (50.6%), beating Sta. Lucia’s 31-of-66 (47%).

Air21’s Blog Notes:

….While De Ocampo was outsmarting every Sta. Lucia big man, seldomly-used Adonis Sta. Maria, also a former Realtors, did his share scoring four points in the contest….

….6-foot-5 burly center JR Quiñahan played only for three minutes in the first half before he accidentally received an elbow from Espino….

Individual Scores:

Air21 97 — De Ocampo 23, David 15, Santos 14, Se 14, Canaleta 12, Billones 5, Cruz 4, Sta. Maria 4, Arboleda 3, Intal 2, Kramer 1, Quinahan 0.

Sta. Lucia 88 — Williams 27, Omolon 14, Espino 13, Yeo 10, Miranda 8, Gonzales 6, Aquino 5, Coronel 2, Reyes 2, Daa 1, Mendoza 0.

Quarter Scores: 17-17, 38-40, 66-62, 97-88