Red Bull downs Air21 to take lead - March 28, 2007

By JAY R. GOTERA

The Saudi Gazette

MANILA

RED Bull survived Air 21’s relentless rally for a 116-111 victory Wednesday night in the PBA Fiesta Cup. The win catapulted the Barakos into the lead of the conference.

In the second game, Purefoods scored its second victory after six games in the PBA Fiesta Cup, beating Talk ‘N Text 101-95.

Marquin Chandler and James Yap led Purefoods with 29 and 23 points respectively. The two waxed hot from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter, scoring a barrage of three-pointers following timely assists given by Paul Artadi.

Yap, who was 0-of-8 from the field in the first three quarters, fired three triples and totaled 15 points in the payoff period.

Purefoods lost an early 17-point lead, but Yap and Artadi carried the fight for the Giants, teaming up in a decisive run that had the team regaining control at 89-84.

In the earlier game, James Penny endured hard, bruising fouls as he collected 40 points in leading the Barakos to victory.

Penny, who led Red Bull to last year’s title, practically carried the load for Red Bull although it took two crucial baskets from Cyrus Baguio and Carlo Sharma in the closing minutes to seal the win and deal the Express their first loss in the tournament.

Red Bull’s workhorse import went to work early, exploding for 27 points in the first half as the Barakos, who never trailed in the game, posted comfortable leads which went as high as 16 points at 70-54 on a three-pointer by Celino Cruz to start the third quarter.

“This is for the conference leadership so we really treated it as a special game,” said Red Bull head coach Yeng Guiao after the Barakos improved to a 5-1 (win-loss) record.

“It was a matter of Penny coming through again for us offensively and defensively,” Guiao added.

Penny shot 14-of-34 from the field and 11-of-16 from the free throw line, had four shotblocks and grabbed 14 rebounds for his sixth double-double in as many games.

“As good and as hard as Air21 played, I really felt this is the game where the breaks might now work against their favor,” Guiao offered.

The Red Bull chieftain said his troops’ confidence is so high coming off a 35-point romp over the Sta. Lucia Realtors last week. In contrast he said, the Express, who came into the game with a four-game winning streak, were flirting with the law of averages.

Junthy Valenzuela scored 15 points, Baguio added 12 and Sharma and Larry Fonacier had 10 apiece for Red Bull which shot 44 percent from the field, had a 21-16 edge in fastbreak points and netted 29 turnover points, 12 more than the Express, who committed 24 errors.

The Express went into the game determined to extend further their franchise record four-game winning streak. And they knew well that to accomplish their mission they had to contain their biggest obstacle – Penny.

So Air21 coach Bo Perasol threw in his best frontline defenders – Nino Canaleta, Arwind Santos, Homer Se, Bryan Bernardo and Mark Telan – one after the other to work on Red Bull’s versatile import.

Unfortunately, neither one of them succeeded in containing Penny and worse, each one of them went into foul trouble at the end of the opening half.

To add insult to injury, Se, who knocked Penny down on a hard foul earlier, was ejected from the game after making physical contact with a game official while trying to plea his case.

Shawn Daniels tallied 29 points and 19 boards, missing his second triple-double of the conference by just two assists. Gary David added 24 and Santos chipped in 21 for the Express, who had their poor shooting from the foul line partly to blame for the defeat. Air21 made just 22-of- 37 free throws.

The scores:

First Game

Red Bull 116 – Penny 40, Valenzuela 15, Baguio 12, Fonacier 10, Sharma 10, Najorda 6, Robinson 6, Cruz 6, Villanueva 5, Alvarez 4, Bugia 2, Ybanez 0, Hrabak 0.

Air21 111 – Daniels 29, David 24, Santos 21, Telan 10, Canaleta 9, Arboleda 5, Andaya 4, Dimaunahan 3, Bernardo 2, Se 2, Torion 2.

Quarterscores: 31-22, 67-54, 95-86, 116-111.

Second Game

Purefoods 101 – Chandler 29, Yap J. 23, Yee 14, Evangelista 11, Salvador 8, Castillo 8, Artadi 4, Simon 4, Yap R. 0.

Talk n Text 95 – Sullinger 34, Cardona 15, Washington 14, Carey 13, Allado 6, Belano 6, Fran 3, De Ocampo 3, Billones 1.

Quarterscores: 28-14, 48-39, 68-70, 101-95