MANILA, 9 November 2006 — Yeng Guiao swore that losing big the last time against this same team was not the motivational factor at all.
It was quite evident that a revitalized Enrico Villanueva can take Red Bull wherever he wants to go.
Villanueva, terribly absent for most of the tournament, scored 14 of his 24 points in the third period last night, leading the streaking Barako to a 92-73 plastering of Sta. Lucia in their return bout for a piece of the elimination round lead in the PBA Philippine Cup.
The Barako won for the second straight time and jacked up their record to 6-4, the same slate held by the Realtors, who found company in setting the pace after failing to post a repeat of a 105-83 drubbing they dealt Red Bull the first time up. Red Bull also pounced on Kelly Williams being off-key a bit.
Williams, picked first overall in the Draft and who is seen to be the force that will turn the Realtors’ fortunes around, suited up less than 24 hours after arriving from the United States to fulfill a prior commitment of attending a friend’s wedding. The Realtors actually won without Williams, against the newcomer Welcoat Dragons last week after Dennis Espino led the team on both ends.
Red Bull actually trailed, 16-20 after the first 12 minutes, before playing bullish ball the rest of the way and keeping the Realtors within arm’s length. While the Realtors climbed into a share of the lead, the San Miguel Beermen won for the fifth straight game later in the night to move within a full game behind.
Danny Seigle scored all of his 28 points in the final three quarters of a 119-103 blowout victory over Coca-Cola, San Miguel coach Chot Reyes’ former team which has been on a roller-coaster ride. The streak improved the tournament mark and the Beermen, after opening up with three straight loss, are now at 5-3 to loom as truly serious threats in the tournament.
Coke took a second straight and fourth in its last five outings for a 3-6 card overall, just a game above the cellar in the tournament that will eliminate just one team for the wildcard and playoff phases.
Ali Peek and John Arigo dropped 18 points each and four other Tigers scored in twin digits, though no one really took over for the Tigers when the Beermen started breaking away.
Rookie Joseph Yeo scored 16 points for Coke, which also got 15 from surprise rookie package Chris Pacana, 10 each from Denok Miranda and Jason Misolas. From a six-point lead after the first period where Seigle fired blanks, the Beermen raced to a 52-40 lead at the half, a 17-point bubble after three quarters, before putting the finishing touches on the rout to win with plenty to spare. Reyes said that there was nothing special in him coaching against his former team for the first time.
He was plucked out of Coca-Cola to handle the PBA-funded Philippine team program more than a year ago. That program has gone sour with the squabbling between the Basketball Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
