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By Frank C. Calapre, Correspondent
RED BULL held Purefoods Tender Juicy to only two
points in the extra period to post a 97-88 triumph and level their
best-of-seven semifinal series to 2-2 Sunday in the 33rd Smart-PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Barakos, led Francis Adriano, Cyrus Baguio
and Celino Cruz, tightened their defense to prevent the Giants from
scoring for four minutes in the extension phase to salvage the win.
“As I’ve said before, the longer the series
goes is much better for us. And we were lucky James Yap did not play
anymore after the first period,” said coach Yeng Guiao, who owns
five titles in the league—three with Red Bull and two with the now
defunct Swift Might Meaty.
Red Bull’s victory reduced the battle for the
championship berth to a best-of-three affair when both teams gun
victory in the crucial Game 5 at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
“I told my players to hold on until anything
happened and when the time comes for us to go ahead then that was
it,” added Guiao.
Red Bull won Game 2 (93-89) while Purefoods,
hoping to make its 20th final appearance since joining the league in
1988, took Game 1 (103-84) and Game 3 (99-90).
“We have to take control of the series now. We
will make several adjustments and some rotations to our key players.
But what is important is we have to overcome the pressure,”
stressed Guiao.
After Baguio’s layup tied the count at 86-all
and sent the game into overtime, the Giants, who missed the services
of top shooter James Yap three-fourth of the way due to injury,
failed to convert easy baskets that allowed the Barakos to take a
94-86 advantage, 44 seconds remaining.
James Yap, the 2006 MVP who is ranked second in
the conference’ shooting department with 22.1 points a game, left
the game late in the first quarter after suffering a groin injury.
The 28-year-old Yap, a native of Escalante,
Negros Occidental, didn’t return to the court. He finished with 10
points.
Baguio topscored for the Barakos with 20 points
followed by Francis Adriano with 16. Celino Cruz and Junthy
Valenzuela contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Marc Pingres and Kerby Raymundo led Purefoods
with 14 points apiece. Chico Lanete added 13 while
Jondan Salvador and Jun Peter Simon chipped in 10 points.
Scores:
RED BULL 97—Baguio 20, Adriano 16, Cruz 13,
Valenzuela 12, Sharma 9, Robinson 9, Pennisi 9, Hrabak 7, Bugia 2,
Duncil 0, Ybańez 0.
PUREFOODS 88 —Pingris 14, Raymundo 14, Lanete
13, Salvador 10, Yap J. 10, Simon 10, Yap R. 7, Larong 4, Yee 4,
Adducul 2, Castillo 0.
Quarters: 28-31, 45-41, 66-66, 86-86, 97-88 (OT)
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