Petron blazes past Barako Bull

MANILA, Philippines -- Red-hot Petron Blaze started with a 13-2 run and roared mightily to the finish, rolling past Barako Bull, 112-87, to remain the team everyone’s chasing in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Tuesday night.

The Boosters humbled the Energy Cola in a duel of streaking tournament leaders, enhancing their bid for a Top Four windup and its crucial incentive with a fifth straight win following a losing conference debut against the Meralco Bolts.

“We played really well tonight. We played good defense and, at the same time, our offense was there,” said Petron coach Gie Abanilla.

“It’s a big win and a big thing. But it’s kind of a double-edge thing. We’re on top, and there’s a danger there. If we believe the hype and all the good things we’ve been hearing, it could be a cause for complacency,” Abanilla also said.

The Boosters scored almost at will, hitting as high as 70 percent in the second quarter to take a 58-38 bulge at the half.

They stretched their lead to 24, 93-69, at the end of the third period and kept a huge gap all the way till the end despite import Elijah Millsap sitting out the last 13 minutes of play.

Terribly outplayed, the Energy Cola suffered their first loss in their last four games and went down to joint second with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at 3-2.

Millsap collected 31 points, nine rebounds, four assists and one steal though seeing action in only 31 minutes. Arwind Santos and Chris Lutz contributed 20 and 19 points, respectively, as the Boosters dished out one of their best games in the tourney thus far.

The Boosters were as efficient on defense, holding down the Energy Cola to their least output in a game in the conference.

Petron’s defense forced Barako to 27 turnovers, and the Boosters scored 26 off those errors.

Michael Singletary nearly ended up with triple-double numbers with 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight turnovers.

Eman Monfort, the surprise scoring leader among the locals with an average of 17, was limited to 12.

The Boosters utterly dominated the Energy Cola, outscoring Barako on all quarters and leading by as many as 29 at 75-46.

Millsap, Santos, Lutz and Marcio Lassiter combined for 9 of 15 three-point shooting and the whole team hit at a 50-percent overall field shooting as against Barako’s 36.4-percent clip.

“Nagkataong maganda talaga ang inilaro namin,” said Abanilla.

“We enjoyed the luxury of resting out import. Our second group had their contributions and it spelled big relief,” Abanilla also said.