INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—Red Bull survived repeated rallies by a Ginebra squad missing its most explosive player, scrambling to an 86-82 triumph and arresting a three-game slide in the Smart-PBA Fiesta Conference Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Adam Parada came up with the crucial baskets in the final four minutes, including a putback off a Cyrus Baguio miss to boost the Barako’s lead to 83-76 with 1:11 left.

The victory, which came after a two-week winning drought, put the Barako within reach again of top spot with an 8-5 record behind league-leading Coca-Cola (8-4).

Parada finished with a team-high 20 points aside from collecting 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocks.

The Kings fell to 4-8 as their three-game winning streak came to an end with league star Mark Caguio still sidelined due to tendonitis.

Caguioa, who averages 23.8 points, also sat out the entire second half of the Kings’ 87-76 triumph over Magnolia last Wednesday.

Junthy Valenzuela tried to step in at crunch time for the Kings by nailing two triples that trimmed the margin to 83-79 with 1:05 remaining.

Traded to the Kings last April, Valenzuela threatened his former squad menacingly by drilling another trey that sliced the gap to 85-82.

But a free throw by Barako rookie Jojo Duncil with just 4.2 seconds left set the final tally.

Duncil finished with career-high 18 points after averaging just 5.7 markers in his rookie stint. Baguio also had 18.

“Junthy made it difficult for us; good thing Caguioa didn’t play,” said Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao. “I don’t know what would have happened to us if Caguioa played. We’re still lucky. But I guess we wanted the game a lot more because the losing streak was really getting to us.”

The Kings bungled several opportunities in their fourth-quarter comeback, including an open three-point attempt by Ronald Tubid with 38.8 seconds remaining that could’ve trimmed the lead to just a point.

Chris Alexander, although sensational with 27 points and 29 boards, missed six free throws in the final canto. Overall, the seven-foot Ginebra import missed nine of 15 attempts from the foul line.

The scores:
RED BULL 86—Parada 20, Duncil 18, Baguio 18, Alvarez 10, Adriano 5, Robinson 5, Pennisi 4, Najorda 2, Ybañez 2, Sharma 2, Cruz 1.
BRGY. GINEBRA 82—Alexander 27, Helterbrand 18, Valenzuela 15, Tubid 12, Artadi 4, Salvacion 4, Mamaril 2, Menk 0, Crisano 0.
Quarters: 27-14, 41-37, 72-58, 86-82