Air21 Express vs Barako Bull Energy

MANILA, Philippines – Leroy Hickerson fought tournament scoring leader Zach Graham stride for stride and the Barako Bull locals outperformed their Air21 counterparts in a 109-100 victory that pushed them up to joint third place halfway through their stint in the PBA Governors Cup eliminations at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

Hickerson produced 38 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as against Graham’s 41 markers and 17 boards – an energetic performance that rubbed off on his teammates as Barako made it two in a row and caught up with Powerade and Barangay Ginebra at third spot at 3-2.

Air21 practically moved out of contention for the semifinals with a fourth loss against a lone win.

The former Cumberland U stalwart scattered 13 points right in the opening quarter and the Energy took control practically from start to finish though beaten in rebounding that caused them to get a mouthful from their coach at the half.

“I was mad at the half because we were being outrebounded though we’re the taller team,” said Barako coach Junel Baculi.

“We still ended up beaten in rebounding and that’s been the case in our last five games. We’re lucky winning games because if you’re outrebounded, more often you lose,” Baculi added.

The Energy relied on better shooting to make up for their deficiency on board work.

Hickerson shot 50 percent (2-of-4) from the three-point zone and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from the two-point area and the whole Barako team hit at a 43.4-percent clip as against Air’21 39.1-percent shooting.

The Express kept the game close in the first half, 47-53, while dominating the boards, 35-27.

Graham led all scorers for throwing a lot of shots. He missed five of eight three-point tries and 12 of 21 two-pointers.

Baculi acknowledged that Hickerson put up a monster performance but said the team, as a whole, needs to step up further to make the semifinals.

“We’re going on a tough grind facing Rain or Shine, Talk n Text then Barangay Ginebra. We have to be physically and mentally prepared,” said Baculi.