MANILA, 8 May 2006 — Yeng Guiao loves horses.
And the way he talked last night gave everyone a hint that he may have finally had his Red Bull side to quit horsing around.
Guiao and the Bulls streaked to a fourth straight win last night, bringing down hulking Talk ‘N Text, 84-81, to creep closer to the pace-setters of the PBA Philippine Cup’s classification round.
“We now have our game and our confidence back,” Guiao said, moments after defusing a spirited Talk ‘N Text comeback and improving to 7-6 overall.
Enrico Villanueva and Larry Fonacier, products of the solid Ateneo basketball program, spearheaded the Red Bull charge, coming through with clutch plays in the end game that kept the Bulls’ collective heads above water.
Villanueva topscored with 19 points and had six rebounds to go with it, while the rookie swingman Fonacier, considered by many as the steal in the last draft, hit 11 of his 15 points in the third period when Red Bull forged ahead.
The Bulls actually had control for most of the match but then blew an 11-point lead early in the fourth period as Donbel Belano capped a searing Talk ‘N Text charge that had the Phone Pals surging ahead, 74-73.
But that was the last time the Phone Pals held the lead and Vic Pablo missed the potential game-tying three-pointer terribly at the buzzer.
It was a gallant Talk ‘N Text rally that fell short — literally — with that Pablo miss, after the Phone Pals had battled back to what turned out to be the final score from 84-76 with only 1:45 left. Talk ‘N Text lost for the second consecutive time and Asi Taulava, after being held scoreless by Alaska on Wednesday, was good for only 12 points. The Phone Pals are now at 5-7.
The Aces, meanwhile, won back-to-back games for the second time in the tournament and kept Coca-Cola winless in the second phase of this round. Alaska held the Tigers scoreless in the final 4:29 later to post a critical 84-72 victory and claim a piece of fourth spot with its victim at 6-6 heading into the final two weeks of the classification phase.
The Tigers tripped the Aces in the first round behind a perfect game from Ali Peek, who shot 12-of-12 from the field, the mark now standing as the all-time standard by anyone in the rich history of the league. Alaska opened up strong and seemed headed to winning handily by opening a 31-13 lead at the start of the second period. Nic Belasco and Reynel Hugnatan scored 12 points between them in the first quarter and actually outscored the entire Coke team, which trailed, 23-10 after 12 minutes.
Belasco would go on to finish with 22 points and seven rebounds, Hugnatan with 12 and Don Carlos Allado a solid double-double with 13 and 13. Peek would struggle all night with Alaska’s defense concentrated on him, winding up with just seven points. Rafi Reavis shared scoring honors with John Arigo for Coke with 16.
