BARAKO BULL ERASES BLACKWATER FROM PLAYOFFS PICTURE
BARAKO Bull is bent on making the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs and has its best game of the conference yet to back it up.
With the Energy playing excellently on both ends of the court there was nothing Blackwater could do in preventing the former’s 97-82 victory Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
RR Garcia provided the early spark and Carlo Lastimosa most of the sustaining fire as they both finished with 16 points in pacing the Energy’s balanced attack against the hapless Elite.
So dominant was Barako Bull on both ends of the court that it even led by as much as 70-46 before cruising to its third win in nine games that firmed up its hold on the 10th and last spot for the two-phase quarterfinals while eliminating Blackwater from the playoffs race.
“We did a good job defensively,” was how Energy head coach Koy Banal summed up the wire-to-wire win that came after a 106-122 drubbing from Talk ‘N Text last Sunday. “The way we started, the energy that the guys brought in, made the difference in this game,” added Banal, whose wards next take on NLEX and Purefoods Star.
“I hope we can use this as a springboard going into our last two games.”
Bryan Faundo and rookie Brian Heruela each turned in a career game, but Blackwater dropped to its ninth straight loss which will mean an early vacation once the elimination round ends.
Barako Bull would simply not let Blackwater’s own hopes be stoked, limiting the latter to a 35-for-84 field shooting while converting 39 of its own 69 shots.
It was only in the second half that Blackwater’s shooting picked up a bit, thanks mainly to Faundo, who finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Heruela’s 19 points and seven assists in only his third game as a pro.
But momentum was clearly on the side of Barako Bull then and it met practically little resistance in bringing home the lead it started building on since the first quarter.
Jake Pascual, also a rookie, notched 13 points, the third time in four games he has scored in double figures, while Denok Miranda, JC Intal, Dave Marcelo and Jondan Salvador did their part for Barako Bull.
The Elite actually crept to within 32-41, the closest they got since the last four minutes of the first quarter, before their shooting woes returned just when the Energy stepped on the gas anew.
Garcia, Pascual, Mick Pennisi, Intal, Miranda and Chico Lanete went on a 22-8 tear and another 9-4 spurt gave them the game’s biggest difference at 26.
Barako Bull pounced on Blackwater’s woeful field shooting right in the first half to post a couple of 17-point leads before taking a 40-31 cushion at the break.
Faundo already had 13 points at the half but the Elite as a team made just 11 of 41 tries from the floor to the Energy’s 16-for-32 clip.
Giving Blackwater optimism going to the last half of play was the final three minutes of the second quarter, when Faundo drained a jumper, Chris Timberlake boomed in the Elite’s lone trey of the half and Larry Rodriguez’s charities countered Pennisi’s freebie to whittle the deficit to nine from 23-40.
Garcia already had 11 points, anchored on 3-for-4 three-point shooting, in the first 24 minutes of play and Barako Bull made nine of 15 shots – to Blackwater’s 4-for-18 – in the first quarter of play to jump to a 22-9 lead.
With the Elite’s shots still failing to fall, the Energy wasted no time in stretching their advantage to 34-17, behind an 8-1 spurt, 6:49 before the turn. (NC)
The scores:
BARAKO BULL 97 – Garcia 16, Lastimosa 16, Pascual 13, Miranda 9, Intal 9, Pennisi 9, Salva 6, Lanete 6, Marcelo 5, Wilson 4, Salvador 2, Paredes 2, Hubalde 0.
BLACKWATER 82 – Faundo 23, Heruela 19, Nuyles 12, Gamalinda 8, Laure 6, Menor 4, Timberlake 3, Erram 2, Rodriguez 2, Ballesteros 2, Celiz 1, Tiongson 0, Artadi 0, Austria 0.
Quarterscores: 22-9, 41-30, 72-48, 97-82
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