Energy on a high; Kings triumph

MANILA, Philippines - The Barako Bull Energy came back from their worst game to dish out their best, crushing the Star Hotshots, 101-83, and hanging on in the fight for Top Six in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Sean Anthony missed an open layup in the final second, allowing Barangay Ginebra to escape with the biggest comeback win in the tourney – from 22 points down – in a 91-90 nipping of NLEX later in the night.

Reserves Scottie Thompson, Dave Marcelo and Chris Ellis fuelled their incredible chase from 53-75 as the Gin Kings moved up to fifth place at 6-4.

The Energy made a virtual 360-degree turn from their 92-116 blowout loss to the Blackwater Elite Friday, pounding out the 18-point rout of the Hotshots to stay in strong contention for a twice-to-beat advantage in the first stage of the two-phase quarterfinal round at 5-5.

“Our obligation is to give our best every game. We failed to do that in our last game against Blackwater. We played our worst game in the tourney then, but I have to give it to our guys, especially our seniors, they made a huge turnaround in playing their best tonight,” said Barako Bull coach Koy Banal.

Jeric Fortuna, Willy Wilson, Mick Pennisi and Josh Urbiztondo whipped up a storm in the fourth quarter, washing away the Hotshots’ hopes for a Top Six finish.

At 3-7, Star has yet to book a playoff berth, as it contends with Mahindra (2-7) and Blackwater (2-8) for the last two slots in the quarterfinals.

The Energy and the Hotshots engaged in a nip-and-tuck battle through the first 36 minutes of play before the former unleashed a decisive 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter to seize control and subsequently run away with the key victory.

Fortuna scored all of his 14 points in the final canto while Wilson fired eight of his 18 in the same period.