Barako Bull, B-Meg advance

MANILA, Philippines - Barako Bull and B-Meg rose in their respective Easter Sunday knockout games to secure the last slots in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four.

The Energy bundled out the Alaska Milk Aces, 106-85, to set up a best-of-five semifinal showdown with the reigning champions Talk n Text Tropang Texters while the Llamados eased out the Meralco Bolts, 86-76, to advance to the next round versus the Barangay Ginebra Kings.

“I have to give credit where it is due. We have a team with an average age of about 34 to 35. They refused to give up. In Tagalog term, pinakita nilang may asim pa sila,” said Barako coach Junel Baculi.

“It’s just so nice to advance to the semis,” said B-Meg coach Tim Cone.

Barako and Talk n Text meet in a rematch of their Commissioner’s Cup semis match-up last year, opening their series at 6:45 p.m. tomorrow at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.

B-Meg and Ginebra, pitted in a playoff series for the first time in 15 years, start their duel Wednesday in the same venue.

Gabe Freeman erupted for 34 points and 19 rebounds in his second game with Barako, leading the Energy to a 21-point rout of the Aces watched by a crowd of 12,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Alaska coach Joel Banal anticipated Freeman’s breakout game but the Aces’ failed to find a way to stop it.

The Energy seemed to be the ones that made the right preparation for this do-or-die game, overwhelming the Aces with tremendous effort on both ends and thus earning the right to play the Texters in the semifinals.

It’s a repeat of their semis duel in the same conference last year when they were swept by the Texters. Talk n Text then had Paul Harris as import while Barako (then known as Air21) was reinforced by Alpha Bangura.

The Barako bench chieftain made special mention of their import who raised his game notches higher after a mediocre 22-point debut Wednesday.

“He recovered from jetlag. He made 34 points and 19 rebounds. What can we ask for?” said Baculi of Freeman.

“I have played for two years (two conferences) here. You know me how I play. I came out to play my game,” said Freeman, a two-time Best Import winner with San Miguel Beer.

Doing much better against the seven-foot Adam Parada, the 6-foot-5 Freeman said: “Size doesn’t matter.”

Baculi said Rodney White is out for good and they’re sticking with Freeman versus Talk n Text.

Against the Aces in their KO match, Freeman amassed 20 points right in the first half and himself spearheaded a decisive assault giving them a 55-42 lead at the turn.

The Aces charged to within four at 56-60 but the Energy regrouped quickly reestablishing a huge spread, 78-63, going into the payoff period.

And even with Freeman resting on the bench, the Energy sustained their charge in the final canto, leading by 25 at 106-81.

Ronald Tubid and Willie Miller combined for six triples and wound up with 20 points each while Danny Seigle chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds and Leo Najorda added 10 markers.

“I was surprised the way they blew us the last time and the way we came back. It’s really a product of hard work, some luck and these veterans who refused to give up,” said Baculi.

“We contained LA Tenorio, Cyrus Baguio and Mac Baracael, and that’s also a big factor,” Baculi added.

Tenorio, Baguio and Baracael were limited to 35 points together after exploding for 58 in Game Two.

Adam Parada and Sonny Thoss, meanwhile, were held down to conference-low numbers of rebounds -- seven and two, respectively.

The scores:

First Game

Barako 106 – Freeman 34, Tubid 20, Miller 20, Seigle 12, Najorda 10, Pennisi 3, Arboleda 3, Allado 2, Peña 2, Salvador 0.

Alaska 85 – Parada 18, Baguio 14, Reyes 13, Baracael 12, Custodio 9, Tenorio 9, Thoss 6, Eman 2, Gonzales 2, Salamat 0, Gelig 0.

Quarterscores: 25-24, 55-42, 78-63, 106-85

Second Game

B-Meg 86 – Bowles 28, Simon 16, Devance 15, Yap 9, Barroca 6, Pingris 6, Intal 2, Reavis 2, De Ocampo 2, Urbiztondo 0, Villanueva 0.

Meralco 76 – Mercado 27, Barron 23, Hugnatan 10, Ross 9, Macapagal 3, Cardona 2, Taulava 2, Borboran 0, Artadi 0.

Quarterscores: 21-23, 42-40, 61-67, 86-76