Energy storm past Warriors, gain playoffs; Beermen win but vow out

MANILA, Philippines - Barako Bull secured its must-win game versus NLEX, 91-85, and with help from San Miguel Beer’s victory over Globalport, the Energy automatically claimed the seventh spot in the coming PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Energy banked on a strong start and on a stronger windup, blanking the Road Warriors in the last six minutes for a key 91-85 win that gave them a closing 5-6 win-loss mark in the elimination round.

That record proved enough for Barako Bull to automatically make the playoffs later in the night following the Beermen’s 106-94 drubbing of the Batang Pier.

Barako Bull’s victory over NLEX and San Miguel’s 12-point conquest of Globalport also resulted to Barangay Ginebra’s outright playoff entry and outright elimination of Kia and, curiously, SMB.

Left in contention for the eighth and last berth in the quarterfinals are Alaska Milk and Globalport.

Alaska must beat Ginebra at the close of the elims today to make the quarters. With a superior quotient, Globalport will make it in case of an Alaska loss.

Sol Mercado neutralized NLEX import Al Thornton with a sterling defensive effort while Chico Lanete stood out on the offensive end with clutch three-pointers at the finish as the Energy salvaged important game.

Meanwhile, NLEX still finished in the Top Five despite the loss to Barako Bull. The Road Warriors wound up with a 6-5 card after losing the game where they went scoreless in the last six minutes of the contest.

“There were so many complications. The simplest thing for us was to win and see what happens,” said Barako Bull coach Koy Banal.

“I love what Sol did to Thornton on defense. In practice, he volunteered to guard Thornton and I just gave it to him. He came in ready and showed the desire to help us live for another day,” said Banal of Mercado who held the prolific NLEX import eight points below his norm of 32.2.

Banal also made special mention of Lanete who highlighted their 12-0 closing run with back-to-back dagger treys.

“Chico is a veteran player and he proved you can rely on him down the stretch. His back-to-back triples were big for us. I’m really glad he’s able to step up down the stretch,” Banal said.

With Mercado taking on Thornton, Sol Alabi had a lighter load in his matchup with Asi Taulava.

Alabi piled up 29 points and 15 rebounds although the Barako locals carried the cudgels in thwarting the Road Warriors at the finish.

Paolo Hubalde and Carlo Lastimosa also hit key baskets as the Energy warded off the NLEX fightback from a 13-point deficit.

Playing catch-up basketball most of the way, the Road Warriors turned the game around in the fourth quarter, storming ahead at 85-79 with 6:01 left to play.

The Road Warriors didn’t score a single basket from there.

Lanete, Mercado, JC Intal and Jake Pascual contributed double-digit outputs for Barako while Mark Cardona was the lone local scoring in twin digits for NLEX.