Tugade sets career high as Red Bull slams Talk N Txt

Lordy Tugade fired a career-high 28 points as Red Bull Barako reasserted their dominance over the skidding Talk N Txt Phone Pals with a 99-92 victory last night in the 2005 PBA San Mig Coffee Fiesta Conference at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Tugade, whose last three points came off a foul by Phone Pals import Damien Cantrell, made a strong statement he can size up TNT's Willie Miller as he had an almost flawless night, shooting 9-of-10 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.

With the win, the Barakos now moved to solo second place with a 7-5 win-loss record.

A former NU Bulldog and a teammate of San Miguel's Danny Ildefonso, Tugade, who is also a Pangasinense like Ildefonso and Marlou Aquino, proved to be the saving grace for the Barako last night when Quemenot Green struggled offensively although the latter managed to pile up 20 points on top of 12 rebounds.

There was only a solitary point difference from Damien Cantrell who finished with 21 points, but the Tugade factor spelled the difference.

The spicing up of the Barako rookies were not present because Leo Najorda, Larry Fonacier, Paolo Bugia and Warren Ybañez don't have enough playing time last night.

It was also very timely that sophomore guard Celino Cruz played better than the other guards, finishing the fourth quarter with three free throws to help the Barakos in padding the lead to a bit comfortable distance.

Enrico Villanueva, who survived a car accident the other day, scored on a two-handed slam that rocked the gym and delighted the Barako fans because their team had a five-point lead, 93-88, with less than a minute left in the game.

The Phone Pals, who suffered their third consecutive setback, slipped to 6-5.