UNDERMANNED PETRON BLAZE STILL ON FIRE
The Walking Wounded are terrorizing opposing teams in the PLDT myDSL PBA Philippine Cup.
Petron Blaze shrugged off a spate of injuries this conference by rolling to its fourth straight win Wednesday, claiming Barako Bull as its latest victim, 96-90, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The unbeaten Boosters seized solo leadership after the fall of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to Meralco last Tuesday.
Marcio Lassiter unloaded 26 points, 2013 MVP Arwind Santos had 10 of his 19 in the third, and Paolo Hubalde nine of his 15 in the fourth as the Boosters came back strong from a lethargic first half, rallying from 13 points down early in the second quarter.
Barako Bull fell to 2-2, absorbing its second consecutive loss.
A strained thigh muscle forced Chris Lutz to the bench where he joined teammates Alex Cabagnot, Yousef Taha, Ronald Tubid and Chris Ross, leaving Petron with eight regular players and one rookie.
“The players were told that the standard of expectation should not be changed,” said Petron coach Gee Abanilla. “Everybody pitched in and stepped up.”
Abanilla lamented their flat start, with Barako Bull taking a 40-27 lead three minutes into the second quarter.
“We just kept hanging on and finally the breaks went our way in the end,” he said. “It was just total team effort.”
Their ever-lengthening injury list is about to be clipped with the return of 2-3 players, including Cabagnot, and this has given Abanilla something to look forward to.
“We’re doing everything for everybody. The physical therapists are doing their job trying to keep the players in shape through the hectic schedule,” he said. “Hopefully, guys will be coming in within the next few days.”
Former Petron player Dorian Pena held his own against 6-foot-10 June Mar Fajardo, but eventually paid the price, picking up his fifth foul halfway in the fourth and then drawing a second technical, resulting in his ejection.
Mick Pennisi took over the Herculean task of holding down Fajardo, but drew his fifth foul as well.
By that time, Petron had turned a 73-71 third quarter deficit into a 78-73 lead on baskets by Chico Lanete and Lassiter, whose triple capped the decisive run, leaving Barako Bull with little options defensively.
Still the Energy Cola weren’t giving up the ghost, with two-time MVP Willie Miller breaking a five-minute shutout.
But Hubalde, son of 1977 PBA Most Valuable Player Freddie Hubalde, held the forte, scoring eight of Petron Blaze’s 10 points during a three-minute stretch, until Lassiter and Santos put the game away down the stretch.
Pena, Mick Pennisi and Mark Isip took turns on Fajardo and succeeded in holding him to 11 points. But keeping him away from the board was another matter.
Fajardo muscled his way to 22 rebounds, including 5 offensively that helped the Boosters gain a couple more tries and soften their 42 percent shooting from inside the arc.
It was the first time a local player had back-to-back 20-rebound games in 10 years, or since Eric Menk did so For Barangay Ginebra in the 2003 All-Filipino Cup.
A deep right corner 3 by Ronjay Bueafe with 40 seconds left made it 93-90, but Santos, who shot 8-of-14 overall from the field, answered with a round-robin layup in transition, erasing the momentary threat.
Miller, who had 23 against Rain or Shine a few days ago, had 8 of his 10 in the fourth quarter. But even he couldn’t upstage Hubalde and Lassiter combined. (WJRHT)
The scores:
Petron Blaze 96 – Lassiter 26, Santos 19, Hubalde 15, Fajardo 11, Lanete 10, Deutchman 7, Duncil 4, Kramer 4, Marata 0.
Barako Bull 90 — Intal 11, Macapagal 10, Miller 10, Buenafe 10, Wilson 9, Isip 9, Pena 9, Jensen 7, Fortuna 5, Villanueva 5, Pennisi 5, Marcelo 0.
Quarterscores: 24-31; 46-50; 71-73; 96-90
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