RR turns Energy on vs Enforcers

MANILA, Philippines – RR Garcia exploded for 16 fourth quarter points on his way to matching a career-high 26-point output as Barako Bull ripped Mahindra, 93-85, to move to solo sixth in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup at the Alonte Sports Center in Biñan, Laguna last night.

Finding his rhythm and range in the payoff period, Garcia strung up 11 straight points in one dizzying run then fired a trey and canned in a pair of charities to personally clinch the Energy’s third win against two losses.

The former FEU stalwart, the No. 6 pick by Globalport in the 2013 Rookie Draft, piled up 26 points on a remarkable 10-of-14 shooting and also dished out three assists as the Energy scored a first successive wins in the tourney while foiling the Enforcers’ similar bid.

Barangay Ginebra, led by Twin Tower Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar, exploited to the hilt its advantage versus the badly undersized Meralco team, pulling off an 89-64 rout later in the night.

The Gin Kings broke away never to look back in the second period as they notched a second win against three losses while keeping the Bolts winless in five starts.

“We came out and we shot the ball well. The most important thing was we played the tempo that we wanted. We played a tempo that can keep our big men fresh. That’s really the key,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

JC Intal delivered 20 points while Willy Wilson contributed 11 helping the Energy nail a follow-up on their 108-106 decision over the Meralco Bolts Sunday.

“We wanted to be above .500. Now that we’re above .500, the goal is to keep going, keep working hard, keep doing what we’re doing from Day One,” said Barako Bull coach Koy Banal.

“If we put effort day in and day out not only in games but in practice, sky’s the limit for us. We’re 3-2 and we hope to sustain that,” Banal added.

With Mark Yee and LA Revilla as the only bright spots for the team in this game, Mahindra went down with a fourth loss against a lone win.

Yee sizzled with a career-high 20 rebounds plus 17 points while Revilla added 14 markers.

While Yee kept on pulling down rebounds, Garcia kept on putting up points on the board, nearly outscoring the entire Mahindra team in the fourth quarter.

His game has been on an upswing with Barako as indicated by his numbers.

In their first five games this season, Garcia scored in double figures in all but one. He averaged only 6.4 points in his rookie year in 2013-14 and 9.6 in his sophomore year in 2014-15.

He had his first 26-point game last year.

“He’s very smart. He can do whatever we ask him to do. I like his skills,” said Banal of Garcia.

The Enforcers were still in the game at 81-88 when Garcia drained a straight-away three-pointer.

Earlier, Mahindra pulled to within six at 65-71 when Garcia strung up 11 straight points to open two 13-point spreads for Barako at 80-67 and 82-69.