Powerade Tigers vs Barako Bull

MANILA, Philippines – Barako Bull, stopped on its tracks by erstwhile winless Alaska Milk Wednesday, returned bullish and rampaged past Powerade, 117-78, to stay close behind pacesetter Rain or Shine in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.

The Energy took to heart their 72-93 blowout by the Aces, dishing out an A1 performance that netted the Lina Group franchise its most lopsided victory ever.

“Coming off a loss to Alaska, the guys vowed to return with a bounce, and they just did,” said Barako coach Junel Baculi.

“I wasn’t expecting to win this big but I thought we did our homework well,” Baculi added.

The Energy came out firing and did as well on the defensive end as they utterly dominated the Tigers for their fifth win in seven starts.

Powerade suffered a fourth loss against three wins.

So dominant were the Energy that they led by as many as 53 before letting their reserves play in the final quarter.

Sunday Salvacion knocked in four triples, finished with a game-high total of 20 points, and had his turn shackling Powerade main man Gary David.

Willie Miller, Paul Artadi, Leo Avenido and Danny Seigle also scored in double figures for the Energy who sizzled with a 59.5-percent shooting as against the Tigers’ 33.3-percent clip.

Well in the groove, the Energy outclassed the Tigers on other fronts of the game that made it easy for them to dominate, leading by 53 at 105-52.

Their unforgiving defense also had the Energy forcing the Tigers to 23 errors and netting 30 points off it.

The Energy shackled down David, holding the league scoring leader to five points with a woeful 1-of-8 field shooting.

“We’re wary of David and we exerted effort to neutralize him,” said Baculi.

“Defense was the main topic of coach Junel while we’re preparing for this game. We’re able to bring that to the game,” said Paul Artadi who helped provide spark in their overwhelming triumph.

The Energy pummeled the Tigers in the first three quarters before relaxing a bit in the payoff period.

Salvacion and Miller got the Energy to a strong start, racing to a 22-6 lead which grew to 43-21 at the half and 62-29 at the end of the third.

The scores:

Barako 117 – Salvacion 20, Miller 16, Artadi 14, Avenido 12, Seigle 11, Sorongon 7, Ababou 7, Arboleda 7, Pennisi 6, Allado 6, Salvador 4, Pena 4, Gatumbato 3.

Powerade 78 – Anthony 13, Kramer 12, Lassiter 9, Antonio 9, Martinez 7, Vanlandingham 7, Calimag 6, David 5, Casio 4, Lingganay 2, Allera 2, Crisano 2, Cruz 0.

Quarterscores: 27-13, 62-29, 90-47, 117-78