Thursday, November 01, 2007 Final push saves Red Bull
MANILA - The Red Bull Barakos needed one big push in the final period to post a 95-84 win over the Air21 Express yesterday in the 33rd Smart-PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Junthy Valenzuela, Celino Cruz and Paolo Bugia combined for a big 18-point spurt in the crucial fourth quarter to key the Barakos’ triumph. The win was a fitting vengeance over the Express, who defeated Red Bull twice in the same conference last year.
“Well, I’m still confused with the officiating. I still don’t know what a foul is and what is not. In other words, we are still adjusting. But, I guess, it’s the same with all the other teams,” said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao, who just came from a one-game suspension over an outburst during their game against Ginebra on Oct. 19.
The victory, Red Bull’s second in three matches, was also a fitting tribute to their injured teammate Richie Alvarez, who turned 27 on Oct. 30.
“What we tried to do in the game was to limit Air21 below the 100-point level because they are one of the highest scoring teams. So if we can defend well, we can win the game,” said Guiao, who praised Valenzuela and Cyrus Baguio for playing well.
Baguio, who also made four rebounds, two assists and a lone steal, likewise scored a new career-high 17 points. The dimunitive Celino Cruz topscored for the Barakos with 20 points, three rebounds and four big steals, while Valenzuela finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds and five assists.
The loss, the Express’ second in also three outings, somehow overshadowed Nino Canaleta’s conference-high seven triples in the match. He topscored for the Express with 27 points, four rebounds and 4 assists.
Double digits
Arwind Santos was the only other Express who scored in double digits. The rest, including Doug Kramer and Ranidel de Ocampo, could only settle for nine and eight points, respectively.
Both teams, which were coming off from at least a one-week rest, fought closely at the start despite shooting identical lows of 27.3 percent from the field that somehow resulted to six deadlocks, the last at 20-20, on Red Bull’s Michael Hrabak jumper with still 51 seconds left in the first.
Carlo Sharma scored on an undergoal shot to break the tie and put the Barakos on top 22-20, at the end of the first canto. (FCC)
