Air21, Barako Bull forge key upsets

JAYSON Castro (right), Talk ‘N Text’s blur of a pointguard, lays one in off Air21 veteran center Asi Taulava. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

BARAKO Bull and Air21 hit the big shots down the stretch last night and brought down separate heavyweights to enhance their playoff chances in the PLDT MyDSL Philippine Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Energy claimed solo fifth spot at the moment after a 92-88 upset of Petron Blaze, which came after the Express shot down defending champion Talk ‘N Text, 102-100, in a pair of thrilling encounters that more or less painted a clearer playoff picture.

Barako Bull broke out of an erstwhile five-team tie and put a foot into a best-of-three series while denying the Boosters the chance to reclaim a piece of the lead.

The Energy finally came out on top of a wild  finish and rose to 5-7 after getting a couple of clutch baskets and 17 total points from JC Intal while dealing Petron just its third loss in 12 outings.

The Express rallied from six points down inside the final 3:55 with Joseph Yeo and KG Canaleta doing the most damage on the Tropang Texters as they notched just their third win also in 12 outings to remain mathematically in the hunt.

Talk ‘N Text doesn’t blow late leads often, and this one could cost the Texters dearly as they went down to 7-4, now almost two games off second spot and the second twice-to-beat privilege in the first round of the playoffs.

Idle league-leader Barangay Ginebra is at 9-2 and now has some buffer over Petron, which made a last-minute decision to not play cornerstone June Mar Fajardo.

“At least with this victory, we are still alive and kicking,” said Air21 coach Franz Pumaren. “The beauty right now is that our destiny is still in our hands.”

Asi Taulava led the Express with 23 points and 18 rebounds, with Canaleta finishing with 16 points and Yeo dropping 13 that went with a night-high 12 assists.

Canaleta actually gave the Express the chance to win in the end, connecting on a triple with 2:34 left which put Air21 within 97-94.

Yeo then scored five straight points, the final three coming off a three-point play with 35 ticks to go that gave the Express a 99-97 lead to stay.

“This time, we closed out well,” Pumaren said.

The scores:

First Game

AIR21 102—Taulava 23, Canaleta 16, Custodio 15, Matias 13, Yeo 13, Camson 10, Manuel 8, Cardona 4, Espiritu 0, Arboleda 0, Sharma 0.

TALK ‘N TEXT 100—Castro 21, Alapag 20, De Ocampo 14, Reyes R. 11, Baclao 11, Seigle 8, Fonacier 6, Anthony 4, Reyes J. 3, Carey 2, Williams 0.

Quarters: 23-21, 45-46, 75-77, 102-100

Second Game

BARAKO BULL 92—Peña 18, Intal 17, Miranda 11, Lastimosa 10, Pennisi 9, Maierhofer 7, Miller 7, Isip 6, Buenafe 5, Wilson 2, Macapagal 0, Jensen 0.

PETRON 88—Lutz 17, Cabagnot 15, Santos 15, Lanete 8, Kramer 8, Lassiter 7, Tubid 6, Taha 4, Deutchman 4, Ross 4.

Quarters: 24-21, 36-47, 63-71, 92-88