Barako Bull forges 3-team playoff for semis berth

For a team laden with veterans, Barako Bull almost let this one slip by.
Suddenly losing focus after erecting a huge lead, the Energy barely clung on to defeat Meralco 81-79 last night to forge a three-team playoff for the last semifinal slot at the Araneta Coliseum.
Barako Bull almost blew a 17-point lead with under nine minutes left and found a sort of defeat in victory after failing to win by the required margin that would have given the Energy the bye in the KO matches.
The Energy needed to win by at least five points.
Instead, the two-point winning margin put the Energy on a collision course with dangerous Powerade tomorrow, with the winner advancing opposite Meralco the day after to be able to join Rain or Shine, Talk ‘N Text, B-Meg, Petron Blaze and crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra in the semifinals.
“We played not to lose and that’s what happens,” Barako Bull coach Junnel Baculi, who openly argued with two-time MVP Willie Miller on the bench in the fourth quarter, told mediamen.
“We are lucky to pull out this win. They (his players) tend to relax when they’re on top. We should have been waiting for the winner (of the first KO game).” Dennis Daa had a chance to win the game for the Bolts, when he was left with a wide-open jumper from the keyhole.
But the seldom-used forward, who actually pushed the Bolts to within 79-80 in the previous offensive with a split from the free-throw line, threw up the shot a tad hard, leading to a Leroy Hickerson rebound and a duty foul by Reynel Hugnatan with seven-tenths of a second left.
Hickerson, who struggled big time from the field, made the first charity and deliberately missed the second to leave the Bolts no chance to launch a decent attempt at the basket.
Barako Bull, Meralco and Powerade all finished with 4-5 slates, and the Bolts earned a bye because of a superior quotient though the Energy beat both teams in the elimination round.
Baculi was honest enough to admit his squabble with Miller in the fourth, which took place after he pulled out his starting point guard after two passing errors.
“That’s what you get when you have good veterans in your team,” Baculi said. “When both (our) hearts are pumping (because of the game), you can’t avoid but show some face out there. But we understand each other and play above those distractions.” It was Miller who was responsible for putting the Energy on the right track, feeding Ronald Tubid for a layup that beat the third quarter buzzer, before hitting a basket in the first Barako Bull possession in the fourth for a 12-point lead.
Barako Bull zoomed ahead, 77-60, with 8:42 left after a Danny Seigle basket before the Bolts nibbled away at that to make a game out of it.
Mario West hit two critical treys at the height of the Meralco rally and finished with 40 points. Hickerson led the Energy with 22.
Meanwhile, Rain or Shine improved to 8-1 and will be a full two games up on B-Meg when the semifinal round starts after the Elasto Painters survived Talk ‘N Text, 92-90, in the nightcap.
Jamelle Cornley scored all of his six points in the most crucial times of the fourth period before thwarting the potential game-tying short stab by Ranidel de Ocampo that dealt the Tropang Texters a first loss in their last five games.
The Texters, who got 24 points from Jason Castro, dropped to 5-4 with the loss and will have a lot of catching up to do to be able to make the championship series.
“It’s a satisfying win, against the best team in the league in the last two years,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said. “Talk ‘N Text has nothing to prove, the burden of proof lies with us. We need to prove that this team’s time has come.”