OVER-ACHIEVING RED BULL IN PROUD THIRD-PLACE FINISH
Coach Yeng Guiao and his Red Bull Barakos may have fallen short in their quest to clinch the league's most coveted trophy. But their campaign in the Smart-PBA Philippine Cup isn't exactly a disappointment.
The Barakos wrapped up what jaded observers considered was an "impressive effort" by a depleted team with 125-104 victory over the Alaska Aces Friday night to salvage third place in the league's centerpiece tournament.
Cyrus Baguio put on a marvelous performance worthy of another All-Star stint and enough to redeem himself after disappearing in the deciding Game 7 of their semifinal series against Purefoods in which he scored just 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
In a complete turnaround, the athletic, high-leaping guard punctured the hoops for 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting including 6-of-6 from the perimeter. He also had nine assists and two steals to show the way for Red Bull, which ripped the game wide open in the second quarter.
"We're disappointed not to be playing in the Finals but this (third place) is a consolation for us. I felt we did a pretty good job this conference. A lot of people didn't expect us to get this far," Guiao said during the post-game news conference.
Guiao, whose search for his first all-Filipino title continues, admitted their inability to make the Finals "will dampen the celebration" of their win but found joy in the thought that his team had overachieved even without the so-called superstars.
"We came up short. But looking at the bright side, lots of my players really blossomed," offered Guiao referring to Kiko Adriano, Mike Hrabak and Leo Najorda.
He also announced that Rich Alvarez, sidelined by an ACL for the entire Philippine Cup, is due to return in the upcoming Fiesta Conference slated to begin late March.
"That's a lot of positive to look at na pwedeng ikasaya ng fans as well as the team," Guiao said.
He said he will give his troops a 10-day-to-two-week break to rest before resuming practice.
"Hopefully by that time our import is already in time,” said Guiao, adding team consultant Andy Jao is already in the United States shopping for their reinforcement.
Alaska held a 41-39 lead with 8:55 left in the second quarter before Junthy Valenzuela knocked in a 3-pointer and rookie Jojo Duncil sank two free throws to spark a 24-8 blast that propelled the Barakos to a 63-49 advantage at haftime. Red Bull never trailed after that.
Carlos Sharma scored a career-high 21 points, Hrabak had a perfect game that included 17 points and Valenzuela had 13 for the Barakos, whose third placed finish was their highest in the All-Filipino since losing to Purefoods in the finals of this conference two seasons ago.
It was also the second straight second runner-up trophy for the Photokina franchise which also copped third in last year’s Fiesta Conference.
Alaska made a run in the third and pulled within 77-84 on a layup by Tony dela Cruz late in the period but that was the closest the Aces could get to Red Bull’s lead.
Dela Cruz led all scorers with 31 points, his highest in an Alaska uniform and second-best in his career, Junjun Cabatu contributed 15 and Eddie Laure had 12 for the Aces, who committed 18 turnovers and gave up 26 points.
The scores:
Red Bull 125 – Baguio 26, Sharma 21, Hrabak 17, Valenzuela 13, Robinson 10, Bugia 9, Adriano 9, Membrere 8, Cruz 8, Duncil 4, Ybanez 3, Pennisi 0.
Alaska 104 – Dela Cruz 31, Cabatu 15, Laure 12, Aban 11, Miller 10, Bono 6, Thoss 5, Quinahan 4, Cortez 4, Hugnatan 2, Bajar 2, Cariaso 2.
Quarterscores: 32-30; 63-49; 87-77; 125-104
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