BARAKO Bull moved closer to securing a berth in the next round with a clinical 97-82 victory over Blackwater on Wednesday in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, City.
RR Garcia set the tone early for the Energy, hitting eight of his 16 points in the first period to lead his team to its third win for a spot in the quarterfinal stage while eliminating the Elite with still two games left in the elimination phase.
Garcia fired two triples in the opening quarter, where Barako Bull took a 22-9 lead and never looked back to hand Blackwater its ninth straight loss.
Sophomore guard Carlo Lastimosa also netted 16 points, most of them he made in the second half as the Energy, who improved to 3-6 won-lost, led by as many as 26 points, 70-44, with 2:24 left in the third period.
Rookie Jake Pascual also contributed big for Barako Bull with 13 points, while Mick Pennisi, JC Intal and Dennis Miranda chipped in nine apiece in a show of balanced attack by the Energy.
“We did a good job defensively. We started strong in the latter part of the second quarter and we were able to score points,” Barako Bull Head Coach Koy Banal said.
“I hope we can use this as a springboard going into our last two games against NLEX and Purefoods,” he added.
Bryan Faundo and Brian Heruela were the lone bright spots for the team of Head Coach Leo Isaac as they tallied 23 and 19 points, respectively.
Alex Nuyles came off the bench and contributed 12 markers and, together with Faundo and Hereula, they were able to trim Barako Bull’s big lead in the final quarter to just 15.
The Elite dropped to 0-9 and their bid to barge into the win column looks dim as they have San Miguel Beer and defending champion Purefoods as their next opponents.