Red Bull shoves Ginebra to brink, leads series, 3-1

Larry Fonacier and Enrico Villanueva rekindled memories of their class act together at Ateneo last night as they carried Red Bull to the threshold of the San Mig Coffee PBA Fiesta Cup finals with a dramatic 88-85 win over Barangay Ginebra at the Araneta Coliseum.

Fonacier piled up a career-best output for the second straight game with 25 points while Villanueva fired 21, including eight of the team’s last 11 points, as the Bulls fought back from the grave for a third straight win and an imposing 3-1 lead over the Kings in their best-of-seven semifinals showdown.

It was a crucial, mind-boggling triumph for the raging Barako, who squandered an early 12-point deficit and had to overcome an eight-point deficit, 77-85, in the last two minutes as import James Penny was ejected on technical fouls.

Villanueva took charge for Red Bull at the finish and dealt Ginebra the telling blows by imposing his strength at the paint. The former Ateneo King Eagle also had eight rebounds, one assist and one block in 36 minutes of play.

As in the last game where he also set a career-high 22 points, Fonacier, another ex-Ateneo standout, came out with his guns ablaze, rifling in 20 points in the first three quarters, and also had crucial plays in the payoff period.

With Villanueva and Fonacier forming a deadly one-two punch for Red Bull, the team made it three in a row over Ginebra despite Penny struggling for only 14 points. Tugade, the team’s No. 1 local scorer, finished with a fat zero, obviously affected by a sore hip.

"I guess you’re not going to find a grittier group than Red Bull today. The team just refused to go down," said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao.

"There were adversities and they were insurmountable at times. But the boys showed resiliency. The team proved they can win not on Penny alone, not on Lordy (Tugade) or Enrico (Villanueva). We pulled through on total team effort," Guiao also said.

The cerebral Red Bull mentor said they will definitely go for the clincher in Game Five Wednesday.