Valenzuela, one of the vital cogs in Red Bull’s title conquest in the recent Commissioner’s Cup, regained his old touch and dished out his finest game in a long while, leading the Thunder to their first win in their last three games.
The entire team actually continued to struggle on its game but scraped past Shell just the same for its third win in seven games overall with Valenzuela rising to the occasion in the fourth quarter.
The Cebuano hitman, who averaged only 7.2 points in their first six games in the conference, fired 11 of his team-high 17 points in the payoff period, including a tough reverse layup off two defenders that gave Red Bull a 63-58 lead with 1:49 left in the clock.
The Thunder were down 50-48 before Valenzuela took charge for his team, scoring on drives and from afar. The sophomore pro also had three rebounds and two assists in his splendid 28-minute stint in the low-scoring game.
Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao did take notice of Valenzuela’s exploits but he lauded the whole team for putting premium on their defense while they continued to struggle offensively.
"I feel we’re still off-timing in our game. We’re off on offense. But this is a good way to come out of a slump," said Guiao. "While we’re struggling offensively, we worked harder on defense. And it feels good to limit a team with a high-scoring import to only 62 points."
Curiously, the Thunder snapped a two-game skid despite finishing with their lowest output this season. The total output of the two teams, meanwhile, was the lowest in the conference thus far.
Askia Jones, the league’s leading scorer with an average of 39.5 points, was in his usual deadly self, firing a game-high 36 points. However, no other Turbo Charger outside of Jones scored more than seven.
Ray Tutt, meanwhile, continued to struggle.
"We’re not expecting him to score in the 30s because we’re not isolating him and just running our regular half-court game, sticking with our style of game with Tony Lang (in the second conference). But what I’m apprehensive about is that Ray’s missing the shots which seemed to be easy for him the last time around," said Guiao.
Danny Ildefonso snared a crucial rebound following missed free throws by Freddie Abuda then scored on a putback with less than a minute left in the contest as San Miguel Beer survived Tanduay, 85-79, in the nightcap.
It was the Beermen’s fourth victory in eight games while dealing the Rhum Masters their sixth loss against two victories.