Red Bull turned bullish again after a long silence, dealing Pop Cola a crucial blow in its bid as the Energizers stunned the 800s, 78-75, in the Alaxan PBA All-Filipino Cup last night at the Philsports Arena.
Jimwell Torion erupted for six key points in the final minute while Terry Saldana came up with a defensive gem in the last eight seconds as the Energizers survived a spirited Pop Cola chase down the stretch.
Long out of the fight for the quarterfinals, the Energizers played loose and spoiled the 800s' bid to move a win short of a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals.
Red Bull improved its record to 2-11 while snapping Pop Cola's four-game winning streak, thus stalling the 800s at 6-7 win-loss card.
Pop Cola now needs to beat Alaska Milk on May 5 and hope Purefoods split its last two games versus Ginebra San Miguel and Tanduay Rhum to gain the fourth spot in the quarters draw.
"We're out of it all so our concern now is to play respectable games before finally bowing out. We want to spoil the party of all the last teams we play," said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao.
Devonn Harp came up with a triple-double game with 19 points and 16 rebounds and 10 assists although it was Torion who turned out to be Red Bull's biggest hero as the crack pointguard sizzled with 11 points coming off the bench in the fourth quarter.
San Miguel put the lock on the second spot in the quarters as it bounced back from its sorry loss to Tanduay with an 89-81 win over Alaska in the second game.
The Beermen moved up to 10-3 while dealing the Milkmen their fourth loss against eight wins. -