Red Bull unleashes fury vs FedEx

BAGUIO CITY – Import Ramel Lloyd and Fil-American Davonn Harp waxed hot under the cold Baguio weather last night to lead Red Bull past FedEx, 100-92, in the opening game of the season-ending PBA Reinforced Conference here.

Lloyd, a first-timer in the PBA, towered over counterpart Terrence Shannon with 43 points and four rebounds while Harp, back after a drug-related controversy, treated the crowd at the Eastern College Gym with his 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Lloyd had six looping triples and four breakaway dunks in the game, the last one giving the Thunder a 94-84 lead. After Yancy de Ocampo countered with a triple with 3:05 left, the Express were held to a single point the rest of the way.

Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao earlier questioned Shannon whom he thought was over the 6-foot-5 height ceiling. But with the way his shorter import fared against the USBL veteran, that should be the least of his worries now.

Shannon was quite impressive with his 31 markers but just didn’t have the qualities Lloyd showed. After scoring 27 points in the first three quarters, Shannon was held to just four in the fourth.

Harp, who was found positive for a banned substance at the height of the league’s anti-drug campaign a few months back, was recently reinstated by commissioner Noli Eala and celebrated his return to action in style.

Shannon scored the first four points for FedEx and later on added two towering dunks and a big block off a driving Harp.

He was briefly rested in the second quarter but the rest of the Express managed to hold on and trooped to their locker room protecting a 52-44 halftime lead.

Shannon had 16 points in the first 24 minutes on a 7-of-11 shooting while Lloyd had 18 points on a 7-of-18 clip. Overall, FedEx shot better in the first half to make up for its 14 turnovers as against the seven of Red Bull.