MANILA, Philippines - Red-hot Barako Bull unleashed its vaunted energy following a bench-clearing incident early in the second quarter to demolish struggling newcomer Shopinas.com. 96-78, for its third straight victory in the 2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome last night.
The Energy sustained their streak after an opening game setback, imposing their will against the Clickers curiously after a melee involving coach Junel Baculi, Barako center Dorian Peña and Shopinas slotman Homer Se.
Se attacked the Barako coach after getting a verbal lashing from Baculi but was tackled by Peña. Both Se and Peña were thrown out of the game while Baculi was assessed a technical foul.
The Energy buckled down to work at the resumption of play, pulling away from a 21-18 edge en route to the victory for a share of second with Rain or Shine at 3-1.
The Clickers reeled to their fourth straight loss.
“I think the players got fired-up,” said Baculi.
“I want to set the record straight. I was talking to the referees, telling them to look at what Se’s doing. Then he reacted that way,” Baculi said on the incident.
The Barako mentor mentioned Leo Najorda, Allein Maliksi and Dylan Ababou getting hurt.
“We played three tough games and nobody got injured. Now we had a light game and everybody’s hurt. But it’s okay. It’s basketball. We’ll play over it and nurse our injuries,” Baculi added.
Fired-up, the Energy did race to a 50-33 lead at the half and never let up, running the show in the entire final half.
Barako had another well-balanced offense with five players – Sunday Salvacion, Willie Miller, Najorda, Wynne Arboleda and Don Allado – finishing in double figures.
Allado scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds with two off the offensive board, putting him a win shy of 1,000 career offensive caroms.
A split by Allado from the line with a minute to go in the third quarter gave Barako its biggest lead at 74-43.
Arboleda converted two of three three-point attempts and three of five two-point tries to spearhead a spirited second-quarter run enabling Barako to pull away at the half.
Miller had his moments in the second and third quarters, finishing with 13 points, eight assists and two rebounds in a follow-up to his 27-point game versus Talk n Text Wednesday.
Jarred Dillinger scored a career-high 31 points and Kelly Williams added 23 points as Talk n Text bucked the absence of Jason Castro and Harvey Carey, nipping B-Meg, 96-94, to also gain a share of second place at 3-1 in the nightcap.
The scores:
First Game
BARAKO 96 – Salvacion 14, Miller 13, Najorda 12, Arboleda 12, Allado 11, Maliksi 9, Artadi 7, Avenido 6, Pennisi 4, Ababou 3, Sorongon 2, Salvador 2, Pena 1.
SHOPINAS.COM <http://SHOPINAS.COM> 78 – Ritualo 15, Hubalde 14, Jazul 10, Menor 10, Espiritu 9, Mirza 8, Canta 4, Duncil 4, Sena 3, Canlas 1, Ilad 0, Hermida 0, Se 0.
Quarterscores: 16-18, 50-33, 74-48, 96-78
Second Game
Talk ‘N Text 96 – Dillinger 31, Williams 23, Peek 13, Fonacier 12, Reyes 11, Aban 4, Aguilar 2, Raymundo 0, Alvarez 0, Alapag 0.
B-Meg 94 – Raymundo 18, J. Yap 14, Simon 13, Urbiztondo 11, Pingris 11, Devance 10, Barroca 8, Reavis 7, R. Yap 2, Acuna 0, Ferriols 0.
Quarterscores: 32-19, 49-37, 74-66, 96-94