WINNING one battle in its Smart PBA Philippine Cup championship series with Sta. Lucia Realty may prove too costly for Purefoods.

The Giants try to level the best-of-seven series at two games apiece, but will have to do so without star James Yap, who yesterday was meted a one-game suspension and P20,000 fine for committing a very flagrant foul last Wednesday.

That should swing the tide back in favor of the Realtors and make attainable their goal of going two games up anew.

"That certainly is a big boost," simply said SLR coach Boyet Fernandez when informed of the news.

"This is my worst nightmare. It was a damning decision," said Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio, who received the news late in the evening.

"I’m still in shock. I could not believe a player like James, who is not easily piqued, would be suspended for one game. I am not questioning the flagrant, but I really do believe it did not merit a suspension."

The Giants won 118-107 in Game 3, but not after Yap’s stiff arm that bloodied SLR’s Joseph Yeo’s nose in the last 52 seconds of the game.

Yap, who scored a gamehigh 27 points, was initially assessed a flagrant foul-penalty one, but after a review of the game tapes yesterday, it was agreed by league officials that the former MVP should have been assessed a flagrant foul-2 that has the aforementioned automatic penalties.

"Finals kasi, pero mabigat," said Yap, who met with league commissioner Sonny Barrios yesterday. "Hindi naman galit, dahil kaibigan ko naman si Joseph. Siguro heat of the moment lang."

Prior to that, Yeo committed two hard fouls on the former MVP, one a second motion that hit Yap on the right ear in the third quarter and then in the fourth, a karate chop-like blow while the latter was driving to the basket.

"’Binalanse ‘yung ulo ko, coach,’" was how Gregorio related Yap’s reaction.

The absence of Yap will surely take a big toll on the Giants’ bid. "They’ve taken away 25 points off our offense. That could prove to be material to the series," said Gregorio, referring to Yap’s series average.

It was not immediately known if there’s any penalty to be slapped on Yeo for provoking Yap and Gregorio said there should be.

"This thing should make us stronger, but as of now I’m truly disappointed," he added.

The latest twist in what has been shaping up as both a physical and mental series comes after Gregorio lauded the way the referees called it tight in Game 3, in direct contrast to Fernandez’s view.

In all, the referees called a total 77 fouls in Game 3, compared to the 60 and 66 in the first two games, respectively.

"Sa akin is, if they (Realtors) have an advantage, it’s because of one instrument, and that is the whistle," said Gregorio, while admitting to being baffled by the way the referees failed to call certain infractions committed by SLR.

Aside from that, he was beside himself in lauding his players, for not backing down "from all the physicalities that we’ve endured in the first two games," and the referees, for calling the game "the right way."

Fernandez, on the other hand, preferred to let those who watched the game be the judge, his unforthcoming manner borne by his "Marami nang nagagalit sa akin" declaration.

In-between "No comments," Fernandez did vow to bounce back big from the loss.

"They only won one game and we’re still up," Fernandez said. "The way I see it, they still have to beat us three times and that won’t happen."

Easier said than done.

In thwarting the Realtors’ bid to erect a virtually unassailable 3-0 lead, the Giants repeatedly found holes in their opponents’ vaunted defense, got everyone involved in offense and also played their own brand of defense.

Bearing the most brunt of Purefoods’ stifling antics was SLR star player Kelly Williams, who was limited to 10 points, the Fil-Am’s lowest output in their last 23 games.

The leading contender for the Best Player of the Conference Award shot an awful 2-of-12 from the field and missed four free throws out of his 10 attempts, pulling the Realtors’ performance down in the process and allowing the Giants to be confident.

"We’ve been treating him like an import in the first two games and we were able to ground him tonight," stated Gregorio.

Fernandez expressed a different–albeit implied–view. "They (Giants) could not have stopped Kelly if…," said Fernandez.

Still, Sta. Lucia got away with 50 free throw attempts and muffed 15 in a match it lost by 11, with Purefoods being awarded with 39 free throws.