MANILA, 23 November 2006 — A perfect plan can only be such if everything falls into place.
And Red Bull found a truly willing victim in Purefoods.
The Barako sucked the Chunkee Giants into a transition game last night and ran Purefoods to the ground to post an 88-76 victory for solo second place as the eliminations of the PBA Philippine Cup enters its most crucial stretches at the Araneta Coliseum.
“They (Giants) tried to run with us and that’s where we gained the advantage,” Red Bull’s Yeng Guiao later said.
Guiao also talked about how big the win was, not only in terms of how easy it looked, but on how he feels he gained ground in the race for one of two automatic berths to the semifinals.
“This is a big win, probably the biggest in the tournament for us,” Guiao said. The win was the second straight for the Barako, their eighth in 12 games overall, which moved them within half-a-game of the Realtors, who have paced this tournament from the start.
Purefoods dropped to solo fourth at 7-5, losing for only the second time in its last eight games and first in the last three.
Junethy Valenzuela scored 14 points and Leo Najorda chipped in with 13 in stints coming off the bench for Guiao, who also emphasized a clamping defensive ploy before the game.
So effective was the blanket that Red Bull employed that Purefoods stars James Yap and Kerby Raymundo were held to the minimum.
Yap, the reigning Most Valuable Player, finished with 10 points like Raymundo. Yap also fouled out with under two minutes left, resulting in a Valenzuela split from the line which restored an 18-point Red Bull spread, 83-65.
Valenzuela and Najorda struck hardest in the fourth period when the Giants made one last run, shooting nine and seven points, respectively as the Barako easily thwarted several rallies which saw Purefoods come closest at 58-69 after a Yap triple.
Air21, meanwhile, improved to 5-6 earlier after ripping Welcoat, 100-85.
Gary David scored eight points in the first quarter and poured in 10 in the fourth to spark the Express, which also got 17 points from rookie Arwind Santos and double figures from three others.
“This win is very important, because as of now, we have a chance to make it to the quarterfinals outright,” said coach Bo Perasol.
Perasol was left to rue their chances the last time out, when his Express got bumped off from outright quarterfinal participation because they were dragged into a playoff.
Worse, the Express were not able to get past the wild card phase when they dropped there and eventually finished seventh.
The Dragons lost for the third straight time and seventh in their last eight games to be alone in the cellar with a 3-9 card. Tournament format calls for just one team to get the axe and everyone is in scamper mode to get out of the bottom at this point.
The Express led by as many as 17 points early and 18 late in the fourth to post the win pulling away and gain enough momentum when they clash with powerhouse teams Talk ‘N Text, which they beat by 17 in the first round, and San Miguel, in that order.
Welcoat was led by Jojo Tangkay’s 16 markers and the Dragons labored hard without Fil-American forward Rob Wainwright, who was sidelined because of a knee injury.
