MANILA, 20 October 2003 — Showing admirable intensity in a game they could afford to lose, the Red Bull Barakos stretched their tournament-best streak to seven games and halted the Beermen’s own win run at three with a 73-70 win in the Samsung-PBA Reinforced Conference.
More than improve their record to 8-10 (win-loss), the Barako, already assured of a spot in the quarterfinals, gained what they hope would be a big psychological edge over the Beermen, in case they would have to deal with the team again late in the campaign.
We really feel San Miguel will be a strong contender in the next round. They have a solid lineup and a great import. We’re just glad we survived this first game against them and I hope this gives us something to rely on when we face them again, said coach Yeng Guiao.
Scott Burrell topscored with 20 points to go with 10 boards and Red Bull’s defense showed it, too, can be as unforgiving as San Miguel — the conference’s top defensive team — especially in the closing minutes.
The Barakos scored only six points in the final 5:50 minutes but let their defense take care of things, limiting the Beermen to the same number of points in the stretch.
Mike Pennisi knocked in a triple to wrest the lead for Red Bull in the fourth quarter.
Kwan Johnson pushed San Miguel to within 66-67 but Red Bull forced their foe to a couple of 24-second violations, three missed baskets and several turnovers while scoring six for a five-point lead and time down to only 3.1 seconds. Dorian Pena had the last say in the game, an unmolested layup that did not matter for the Beermen’s bid to further stretch a three-game streak. The Beermen slipped to 4-7, remaining in second spot behind Sta. Lucia Realty (6-3) but still within striking distance of Alaska (3-5), FedEx and even Purefoods (1-8) in the Group A eliminations race.
In the second game, Lenny Cooke, in one burst of speed, drove to the basket, double-pumped and buried a shot off the glass with 2.8 seconds remaining to lift a murk-mired Purefoods squad to a stunning 84-82 victory over Alaska. “That was exactly the play,” said a jubilant Ryan Gregorio, who promised that last night’s victory was only the start of something big for what has been a moribund franchise this season.
The Hotdogs seized the reins of the match against an Alaska side that couldn’t get its act together. Still, Purefoods didn’t look ready to finish off the Aces, who found one way or another to claw back into contention.
John Arigo, who tortured the Purefoods defense with his shooting all night long, knocked in a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left to finally knot the count at 82.
But Cooke wasn’t finished yet.
Walking off the court and into a timeout, Cooke had a few words to say to the Alaska bench and gesturing that he’d have the ball in the final play. And for a reason. The former high school phenomenon knocked in 15 of his 38 points in the fourth period as Purefoods furiously fought off Alaska’s tries to steal the game.
