CEBU - Team Red, sponsored by Red Bull Barako of Emot Salcedo, upended Allan Lim’s Gray, 77-63, to clinch the championship of the Basketball Association of Ramos (BAR) Second Conference Inter-Color Tournament at the Cogon Ramos Sports Complex.
The two protagonists figured in a nip-and-tuck battle in the first two quarters, with Gray taking just a hairline edge at halftime, 34-33.
However, Gray’s outside shooting and vaunted running game conked out in the final half, mainly because of Red’s stifling defense anchored on pointguard Bogs Panique and Gang-gang Navarro. Later, Glenn Birao and Erwin Ferrer joined the fray to catapult Red to a 14-point romp.
Birao, a former CTS Scanner forward, paced Red with 20 points while Ferrer and Salcedo tossed in 14 and 10 markers, respectively.
Lito Navarro topped Gray with 20 points followed by Rey Jumamil and Jun Felicitas with 11 and 10.
In the battle for third, Black overshadowed White, 88-77.
The scores
Red Bull (77) - Birao 20, E. Ferrer 14, Salcedo 10, Panique 10, G. Navarro 10, Pasana 4, Loreto 4, B. Ferrer 2, Limpangog 2, Leopats 2, Casas 1
Gray (63) – L. Navarro 20, Jumamil 11, Felicitas 10, Cobacha 4, Tejero 4, Lim 4, Salaritan 4, Alesna 3, Pilapil 3 – GGM (THE FREEMAN)