Ailing Petron trips Barako

THE PETRON double team of June Mar Fajardo (left) and Paolo Hubalde forces Barako Bull’s Ronjay Buenafe to commit an offensive foul. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Down to eight healthy veterans and a lightly regarded rookie, Petron Blaze managed to remain unbeaten in the PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup after scraping past Barako Bull, 96-90, last night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Boosters used a hot finish to salvage their fourth straight victory, shooting seven unanswered points at the start of the fourth period to take the lead for good.

Marcio Lassiter scored 26 points that went with eight rebounds and four assists and June Mar Fajardo had 11 points and 22 boards in another mammoth effort that enabled the Boosters to dominate the middle the entire night.

The loss was the second straight for the Energy, who dropped to a level 2-2 card.

Petron held the Energy scoreless for the first 4:39 of the fourth quarter and easily erased a 71-73 deficit entering the period, before holding off Barako Bull’s last-gasp stand led by former two-time MVP Willie Miller.

“We’re very very happy about this win. Coming into this game, we had a lot of injured players,” Petron coach Gee Abanilla said. “We came into the game with eight players and one rookie. But the standard of expectation should not be changed. We came out flat at the start but managed to hang on and gained a chance to win.”

In the second game, Calvin Abueva hit clutch shots in overtime as Alaska held off Air21, 97-91.

Paolo Hubalde, getting the chance to start at the point with all-star Alex Cabagnot sitting out a fourth straight game, scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth period and ended up as one of the biggest performers for the Boosters.

Petron was also without Ronald Tubid, Yousef Taha, Chris Ross and Chris Lutz.

The scores:

First Game

PETRON 96—Lassiter 26, Santos 19, Hubalde 15, Fajardo 11, Lanete 10, Deutchman 7, Duncil 4, Kramer 4, Marata 0.

BARAKO BULL 90—Intal 11, Macapagal 10, Miller 10, Buenafe 10, Wilson 9, Isip 9, Pena 9, Jensen 7, Fortuna 5, Villanueva 5, Pennisi 5, Marcelo 0.

Quarters: 24-31; 46-50; 71-73; 96-90

Second Game

ALASKA 97—Abueva 19, Exciminiano 16, Jazul 13, Espinas 11, Thoss 10, Casio 7, Baguio 7, Dela Cruz 6, Belasco 4, Ramos 4, Hontiveros 0, Eman 0.

AIR21 91—Canaleta 22, Manuel 20, Custodio 13, Cardona 12, Espiritu 10, Taulava 5, Yeo 4, Sharma 4, Jaime 1, Arboleda 0, Ritualo 0, Camson 0.

Quarters: 9-16, 26-29, 52-49, 80-80, 97-91