MANILA, 16 June 2004 — Not even a sour touch from the stripes could keep Red Bull Barako from its cherished goal.
Bucking a conference-high 25 missed free throws the Barakos scored a 101-91 win on Monday over the debuting US Pro-Am selection to move closer to a semifinal berth in the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.
Big man Homer Se came through for the Barakos with a conference-high 20 points, mostly on inside forays, behind a near-perfect 10-of-11 shooting from the floor in tandem with Victor Thomas, whose team-high 27 points was capped by a 9-of-11 field performance.
Those high numbers, plus Red Bull’s 59.7 percent shooting from the field, were more than enough to atone for the team’s dismal 21-of-46 (45 percent) showing from the free throw area.
The Red Bull coach said the American selection was a pretty tough challenger but noted their lack of chemistry. The US Pro-Am team arrived Saturday morning and held its first practice Sunday morning.
The Americans controlled the tempo in the first half with their fast-paced game that saw Keith Friel (19 points), Matt Turner ( 11 points) and Isaac Sojourner (10 points, 11 rebounds) leading the offense. The Barakos took control of their game against the Americans only in the final quarter when Se, Thomas and Torion scored most of their points. Se and Torion in particular, were the ones responsible for putting the game away as they sparked a closing 9-2 run to stretch a close two-point ballgame to 97-88 in the final 54 seconds.
The first-half was a closely fought one as the two teams came through with their own separate spurts. A three-pointer by former Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA) stalwart Philip Newton gave the Mail and More-backed Americans their first sizable lead at 29-20.
The Barangay Ginebra Kings were more impressive, turning their game against the visiting University of British Columbia Thunderbirds into a basketball clinic following a lopsided 110-79 victory in the nightcap.
After a close first half, the Kings unleashed the pro type of game the Canadians came here to experience and ripped the game wide open, 83-63, at the end of the third quarter.
With starting guards Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguiao and forward Eric Menk warming up in the third, the Kings exhibited UBC’s lack of experience and put a big question mark on the ability of the visitors to provide a better challenge in their upcoming matches.
Karlo Villanueva, who drew much attention even before he set foot here, showed signs of a good playmaker but not good enough to wow local basketball fans who showed up to see him play. With their second win in Group B, the Kings also moved at the doorstep of the next round of the league’s transition tournament.
