Long suffering Bulls stun pacesetting Aces

Red Bull finally put an end to a franchise-worst skid spanning five weeks last night, staying in the hunt for the KFC PBA Philippine Cup playoff phase with a surprise 100-80 rout of Alaska Milk at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Bulls finally showed staying power, unleashing a strong finishing kick to nail their first win in their last nine games and their fourth in 15 games overall.

Jeff Chan scored a career-high 23 points he spiked with five triples while Mike Holper came away with his first double-double performance in two years with 12 points and 10 rebounds, powering the Bulls past the Aces who took their fifth loss against 10 victories.

“We’re trying to keep the respect we’ve got from the basketball-watching public. We’re not totally giving up in this conference but we know we faced a difficult task,” said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao.

“It’s good to beat Alaska but we also know that we just got lucky today. In most of our games, we’re leading most of the time in the first three quarters but usually collapsed in the fourth quarter. It’s because we don’t have the materials,” Guiao said.

In their first 14 games in the tourney, the Bulls led their rivals after three quarters in six contests. They were ahead at halftime in eight games.

This time, there was no stopping the Bulls with their backs against the wall.

Red Bull took the half at 40-37, stretched the lead to 69-60 at the end of the third and poured on the heat in the fourth quarter to complete the stunning victory.

“Admittedly, our morale is down. Hopefully, this win will lift it up to a level where we can get back our bearing,” said Guiao.

Cyrus Baguio and Carlo Sharma also finished in double figures for the Bulls who beat the Aces practically on all fronts of the game.

Chan had a solid all-round game with 23 points, six rebounds, three steals and two steals – his best in the pros after a 16-point outing in Red Bull’s 92-100 loss to Rain or Shine last Nov. 28.

NOTES: Ginebra’s Junthy Valenzuela and San Miguel’s Dorian Peña were both suspended for their punching fouls in their recent games.

Willie Miller ended up Alaska’s top scorer with only 13. He also collected five rebounds and three assists but committed five errors.

The Aces totaled 24 turnovers as against the Bulls’ 14.