MANILA, 9 February 2006 — In an overtime shootout where no one blinked, Enrico Villanueva found himself to be the unlikely Red Bull gun and shot Purefoods right between the eyes.
The 6-foot-6 Red Bull cornerstone hit nine of his 25 points in the extra period last night, carrying the Barako to a 107-102 decision of the hard-fighting Chunkee Giants and a 1-0 lead in the PBA Fiesta Conference title series.
But none of those points were as big as the last four, which came in a 14-second span late in extra time that put the game to bed for the Barako, who also beat the Giants for the first time in three games in this tournament.
Red Bull actually blew an 89-84 lead with two minutes left in regulation with Marquin Chandler forging overtime at 89 after sinking two free throws for Purefoods off a James Penny foul, 43.2 to go.
Chandler also had a chance to win it all, but his teardrop off a Red Bull double team with 7.8 seconds remaining rattled out.
Air21, meanwhile, won third place, its best finish since joining the league in 2001, after ripping Barangay Ginebra, 108-98, in the battle for the crumbs earlier.
Game 2 is scheduled tomorrow also at the Araneta Coliseum.
“Going 1-0 up is good, but it really does not make a series,” Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao said. “We have to come out with the same intensity and desire in Game 2 and the next games if we want to go all the way.
“This is just one game,” Guiao added. “Yes, we’re confident, but we can’t be complacent.”
Villanueva, who also had 12 rebounds and two blocks to earn Player of the Game honors, broke the game’s last tie at 91-91 with a two-handed slam with 2:56 to go, touching off five unanswered points for the Barako.
And after Purefoods got to within 93-96 after two Kerby Raymundo free throws off the last foul of Lordy Tugade, Villanueva hit another bucket with 1:48 left and a free throw split with 1:11 to go for 101-96.
Purefoods then coughed the ball up in the next play and Villanueva gave the Barako a seven-point lead at 103-96 by nailing a jumpshot from just inside the three-point arc with the shotclock about to expire and time down to 37.1.
The Giants did not just fold up and die after that, as Noy Castillo hit a triple with 29.3 left and another that sandwiched a Celino Cruz split six seconds later that made it 104-102.
The league’s worst free throw shooter at 44%, Villanueva then connected on two charities off a duty foul by Raymundo just a second after Castillo hit that trey for 106-102.
It was a game that started with a lot of firepower from both ends after Purefoods took an early seven-point lead which Tugade alone erased with a brilliant 14-point effort in the first period.
Purefoods, which is playing in its 18th championship series since being admitted as an expansion team in 1988, fell because of a conference-high 32 turnovers.
Red Bull, on the other hand, made the most out of the Giants’ sloppiness by converting those blunders into a total of 29 points.
The Barako had taken an 11-point lead in the third period after a Villanueva dunk made it 63-52.
But the Giants got back in the game behind James Yap, who blitzed the Red Bull defense with 14 points coming in the last 5:05 of the third quarter built around four conversions from three-point range.
Purefoods then went up, 84-80 with 4:48 left in regulation after baskets by Chandler and Raymundo before Penny hit a layup, a three-pointer and a short jumper to give the Barako that five-point lead heading into the final two minutes of the fourth period.
