Bulls outgun, outhustle Express

Red Bull scuttled Air21’s trapping defense and worked on efficient press and superb offense to fashion out a 112-98 victory in the Gran Matador Brandy PBA Philippine Cup at the Astrodome last night.

The Bulls smothered the Express in a big comeback from a 90-95 loss to the San Miguel Beermen Saturday, nailing down their third win against two losses.

Offensively, seven Bulls scored in double figures — the most number of players doing the feat in a single game for any team this conference.

Lordy Tugade, Larry Fonacier, Enrico Villanueva, Paolo Bugia, Mick Pennisi, Celino Cruz and Cyrus Baguio logged double-digit outputs. Curiously, the Bulls’ lowest scorer in Topex Robinson with six points finished as the Bulls’ No. 1 rebounder with 10 caroms.

"Air21 is always dangerous specially when Renren Ritualo is hitting his three-pointers. But we defended the posts very well. That balanced things up for us," said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao.

"The boys also showed they’re in great shape to keep up with a well-conditioned ballclub in Air21," Guiao added.

Ritualo led all scorers with 24 points but went scoreless in the payoff period as the Express suffered their fourth loss in six starts.

Trailing most of the way, the Express rallied within two, 75-77, late in the third but couldn’t get abreast with the Bulls as Tugade came through with a huge run of his own midway through the last quarter.

Tugade, the Fiesta Cup Finals MVP, strung up 13 straight points, counting three treys, as the Bulls regained a commanding lead at 99-83.

The Bulls put pressure on the Air21 ball handlers and snared offensive rebounds as they closed the first half with a 12-6 run to take a nine-point cushion at halftime, 54-45.

Dominating the boards and forcing Air21 to 13 turnovers in the first 24 minutes of play, the Bulls enjoyed the lead at the turn though beaten by the Express from the floor.

Red Bull converted 43.8 percent of their field-goal shots as against Air21’s 46.5-percent clip.