Five Bulls scored in double figures with Paolo Bugia making a career-high 15 points — all in the first half — and Mick Pennisi taking charge at endgame as the Photokina Marketing franchise nailed down its second win in three games in the All-Filipino tourney.
Enrico Villanueva, Celino Cruz, Lordy Tugade and Junthy Valenzuela also delivered significant numbers coming off the bench as the Bulls scored a second straight win following a losing debut against the San Miguel Beermen last March 10.
Red Bull has a chance to get back at San Miguel in a road game at the Urdaneta Sports and Cultural Center in Urdaneta, Pangasinan on Saturday.
"We’re a bit lucky we played them with Kenneth Duremdes out on injury. Kenneth could have added dimension in their game had he been healthy. Sta. Lucia is fast changing their game. They’re now more mobile and more aggressive," said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao.
"Also coming in a very opportune time was Paolo Bugia’s good game. Rico (Villanueva) struggled at the start and Paolo gave us the post presence we’re supposed to get from Rico," Guiao added.
Despite Duremdes’ absence and Bugia’s breakout game, the Realtors put up a tough challenge and were very much in the fight until it suffered a sudden collapse in the last five minutes of the game.
After Dennis Espino gave the Realtors a 90-89 edge on a basket off two defenders with time down to 5:37, the team never scored again, going 0-of-14 from the field the rest of the way.
The Bulls hustled on defense and went to Pennisi for the crucial plays at the finish to seal the win.
Purefoods, drawing best career games from Eugene Tejada and Paul Artadi, bounced back from a loss to Talk n Text in Hong Kong over the weekend with a 73-56 rout of Barangay Ginebra in the second game.