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Monday, February 06, 2006
Barakos repulses Kings in Game 7, face Purefoods Giants in finals series
WHO says history has to repeat itself?
Yesterday, the Red Bull Barakos avoided being a footnote in the Philippine Basketball Association history as it defeated the Ginebra Gin Kings, 83-79, in the deciding seventh game of their Fiesta Cup semifinal series at the Araneta Coliseum.
The win earned the Barakos the right to face Purfoods Chunkee Giants in the best of seven championship series. The Giants got the first slot after defeating Air21 Express, 4-2, in the other semifinal match.
The Barakos also avoided losing a series after getting a 3-1 lead, denying the Kings a repeat of their historic comeback in 1991 when they defeated Shell after trailing, 1-3, in the first four games.
Red Bull dictated the tempo of the game early and had an eight point lead, 73-65, going into the final four minutes of the match, behind the stellar play of James Penny.
However, the Gin Kings showed the spirit that allowed them to force the deciding game seven as they unleashed a 10-0 run to take the lead, 75-73, with only 1:29 left on the clock.
Still, history was not to be repeated as Celino Cruz dropped two treys and Penny added another jumper as the Barakos got the lead back, 81-75 with only 30 seconds left.
The Gin Kings managed to get with in two, 81-79, with only 7.6 seconds left, but it was the closest they could get as they bowed out of the semifinal round.
Meanwhile, after eight straight conferences, Purefoods is back in the finals of the Philippine Basketball Association.
The Giants erected a 20-point lead midway in the third period and survived the mighty run of Air21 to post a 90-79 Game 6 win last Friday.
Tagged as a goat in their 99-100 loss in Game 5, Roger Yap hit a back-breaking triple in the closing minutes that gave Purefoods enough breathing room and ex-Air21 stalwart Marc Pingris cemented the victory by hitting five free throws to send the Giants in the finals for the first time since the 2002 Governors Cup.
Triple-double
Yap had a near triple-double performance with 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and more importantly erased the stigma of his endgame boo-boo in the previous game where he had the chance to close out the series.
“Finally, we’re back. We just made sure that the giant-slaying had to end tonight. That was our goal tonight, ‘All out Friday,’” said Purefoods head coach Ryan Gregorio, who was the last mentor to give the franchise a title in 2002.
“It was a tremendous ride for Air21. Hats off to them. It’s a good feeling to beat Air21 because they have been the giant slayers in this conference and when the real Giants stepped up, it had to stop,” Gregorio added. (ESL with PBA media bureau)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 6, 2006 issue)
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