Energy foil Bolts, force semis playoff

MANILA, Philippines - Barako Bull leaned on a 17-point spread built early in the fourth quarter to cushion the impact of Meralco’s endgame charge and stay alive at the close of the PBA Governors Cup elimination round at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Energy salvaged an 81-79 decision over the Bolts, avoiding outright elimination and instead forging a double-playoff among Barako, Meralco and Powerade for the last seat in the semifinal round.

Barako and Powerade battle in the first knockout playoff at 6:45 p.m. tomorrow at the Big Dome with the winner advancing to the second KO match Wednesday in the same venue.

The three teams ended up tied at sixth place with identical 4-5 win-loss slates at the end of the short one-round-robin elims. Meralco took the bye in the first playoff with the best quotient which Barako missed by three points.

“That’s the character of the team. They tend to relax when on top. We’re up by 17 but we played not to lose. Had we won by five or more, we would be the one waiting,” said Barako coach Junel Baculi.

“We take the long route. We brought it on ourselves and we have to play above it,” Baculi added.

The Energy actually barely salvaged the game with Dennis Daa missing a potential game-winning shot for the Bolts with two seconds left to play.

Leroy Hickerson grabbed the crucial offensive rebound and, desperately fouled by Reynel Hugnatan, hit a charity for the final count.

Thus, Barako Bull kept a chance to join Rain or Shine, B-Meg, Talk n Text, Barangay Ginebra and Powerade in the semifinal round which begins Friday at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.

Emotion ran high on the Barako bench at the height of the Meralco rally with Baculi and ace backcourt player Willie Miller seen engaged in a heated exchange of words during one break.

“That’s what you get when you have good veterans in our team. But that’s just open communication,” said Baculi of the incident.

Down by 17 at 60-77, the Bolts waged a fierce chase and threatened to within one at 79-80 with 36.9 seconds left to play.

The Bolts got a chance to steal the game when the Energy committed a 24-second shot clock violation in the next play.

Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio sued for time, and the Bolts ran a good play where Mario West, after drawing the Barako defense, found Daa wide open in front of the charity lane.

Jamelle Cornley scored six of their last seven points and blocked a crucial shot by Ranidel de Ocampo in the closing seconds as Rain or Shine capped its dominant run with a 92-90 win over Talk n Text in the closing match of the elims.

The Elasto Painters go to the semis carrying over a pacesetting 8-1 card, two full games in front of the second-running B-Meg Llamados (6-3).

“It’s a satisfying win – a win against the best team in the league in the last few years. Talk n Text has nothing to prove. The burden of proof lies with us. But I think we’ve proven we’re for real,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.

Daa, however, missed the crucial shot and the Bolts blew a chance for an outright semis entry.

West buried five three-pointers and finished with a personal conference best of 40 points. The rest of the Bolts were held down to 39, though.

“We’d been giving away a hundred or more, and this is our best defensive effort. I challenged them to play defense and they did,” said Baculi on their solid defensive job.

The scores:

First Game

Barako Bull 81 – Hickerson 22, Seigle 16, Tubid 10, Kramer 8, Miller 7, Allado 7, Cruz 6, Salvacion 3, Najorda 2, Pennisi 0.

Meralco 79 – West 40, Taulava 15, Cardona 8, Daa 5, Macapagal 5, Bulawan 2, Mercado 2, Hugnatan 2, Ross 0, Reyes 0.

Quarterscores: 22-14, 41-39, 69-59, 81-79

Second Game

Rain or Shine 92 – Cornely 19, Lee 18, Chan 14, Cruz 11, Norwood 9, Belga 7, Quinahan 6, Tang 2, Arana 2, Buenafe 2, Ibanes 2.

Talk n Text 90 – Castro 25, Harris 11, Reyes 11, Williams 10, Fonacier 10, Alapag 8, Aban 5, De Ocampo 4, Peek 4, Aguilar 2.

Quarterscores: 27-28, 46-51, 67-68, 92-90