BARAKO BULL GRABS SHARE OF LEAD
BARAKO Bull knows the easy part of its campaign in the 2015 PBA Governors Cup isn’t by all means over and it would just get tougher from hereon in.
That’s why the Energy wasted little time in swamping hapless Blackwater, 105-90, Sunday and got the veritable security blanket it wanted in the early goings of the season-ending conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Liam McMorrow notched game-highs of 23 points and 15 rebounds in just under 33 minutes of action while Carlo Lastimosa came up with a career-high 18 points with JC Intal adding 17 in Barako Bull’s charge to its followup to a 101-96 win over NLEX last Wednesday.
The victory not only drew the Energy abreast of idle co-leaders Alaska and GlobalPort but also prepped them up for the match with Talk ‘N Text on Friday.
“Two-zero is confidence-building. Getting this win will give us much confidence in our campaign,” said Barako Bull head coach Coy Banal.
“As you go along, it will become harder each time. Everybody will prepare for you. I just hope the players, especially Liam, are up to the challenge.”
The 6-11 3/4 McMorrow said he is.
“Our first two games are like warmup games,” said the Toronto native. “But on Friday against Talk ‘N Text we’ve got to get ready for them. We have to up our physicality for that game. But I think we’ll be okay.”
Marcus Douthit had 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead Blackwater, which also drew 12 points each from rookies JP Erram and Brian Heruela, and Bambam Gamalinda.
Yet the Elite still dropped to a 0-3 slate following a game in which Barako Bull led by as much as 95-68 before easing up a bit on the throttle and allowing Blackwater to come up with its smallest losing margin yet after averaging 25 in its first two games.
Among Banal’s starters, only McMorrow saw action in the fourth quarter with Intal, Chico Lanete, RR Garcia and Jake Pascual content to ride the bench.
“I wanted to give our starters ample rest so they’ll stay fresh and we’ll have fresh legs all the time. JC is very understanding about it but I still have to talk to my other starters.”
Besides, they have already done enough damage and those given the job of finishing up were up to the task.
Solid proof was a 12-3 surge opening up the fourth that padded what was already a sizable 87-65 bulge and gave Barako Bull its biggest lead at 27 points, effectively sealing Blackwater’s doom, still 8:20 to go.
Gamalinda, who scored 10 of his points in the final canto, and Erram tried to lead Blackwater’s fightback. But the most they could do was bring the Elite within 15 points. (NC)
The scores:
BARAKO BULL 105 – McMorrow 23, Lastimosa 18, Intal 17, Yeo 8, Maierhofer 7, Hubalde 6, Garcia 4, Pascual 4, Lanete 4, Wilson 4, Sorongon 4, Ababou 3, Chua 2, Forrester 1, Salva 0.
BLACKWATER 90 – Douthit 21, Erram 12, Heruela 12, Gamalinda 12, Cervantes 9, Salvacion 9, Ballesteros 4, Celiz 3, Bulawan 3, Acuna 3, Reyes 2, Laure 0.
Quarterscores: 32-11, 55-42, 87-65, 105-90
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