Barako Bull snaps 6-game slide at Meralco’s expense

Dennis Miranda of Barako Bull Photo by KC Cruz

MANILA, Philippines — Barako Bull ended its six-game losing skid in resounding fashion following a 99-86 drubbing of Meralco in the 2014 PLDT myDSL Philippine Cup Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Energy leaned on a collective effort with veteran playmaker Denok Miranda leading the way with 17 points and five assists.

“If you could take a look at our games, it’s always close games. What I’m waiting for is how long will my players keep on pushing themselves to win,” said Barako Bull coach Bong Ramos in Filipino after his team picked up its first win in nearly a month.

“We just have to keep on pounding the rock but that’s only one game, hopefully we could build on this.”

Willie Miller and Mick Pennisi scored 14 points each off-the-bench with three free throws from the sweet-shooting big man giving the Energy an 84-66 lead at the 9:36 mark of the fourth quarter.

Miranda hit a 3-pointer that put the game away, 94-78, with only 2:09 to go.

Mark Macapagal, who was reinstated back in the lineup, added 11 points and so did forward JC Intal. Rico Maierhofer and Dorian Peña had 10 as Barako Bull tied Meralco and Alaska in seventh place with a 3-6 record.

Gary David and Mike Cortez paced the Bolts, who suffered their third straight setback, with 20 points while Rabeh Al-Hussaini scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

Jared Dillinger had a night to forget as he fouled out with still 8:39 remaining and scored just four points on two-of-10 shooting from the field.

Cliff Hodge played his first game after recovering from a sprained ankle — scoring a point, grabbing three rebounds and collecting an assist and a block in 12 minutes.

The Energy made 14 triples — the second most this season and just three shy of their league-high 17 treys during their win over the Aces last November 24 before losing six in a row.