PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines — Barako Bull refused to go down but Petron Blaze found a way to carve out a 107-100 win that wrapped up the quarterfinals series Friday in the 2014 PLDT MyDSL PBA Philippine Cup.
While the Boosters were in the lead for the entire second half, they struggled to pull away as the Energy hung in just within six points in the last four minutes.
“Honestly, it was really tough playing Barako Bull. They got a lot of veteran players. They did a good job of keeping us at bay. We just wanted to use the momentum that we have,” said head coach Gee Abanilla.
Petron succumbed to a Mick Pennisi-led comeback by Barako Bull and saw its 13-point edge early in the fourth slashed to four, 89-85, on an 8-0 run.
But the Boosters got a break when the veteran Pennisi got the boot with two technical fouls, and then Alex Cabagnot took the reins as he led Petron in dousing off the Energy’s attempts at a last ditch rally.
Denok Miranda inched Barako Bull to within five, 105-100, with 26 ticks left, but Chris Lutz countered with two freethrows to ice the game.
The Boosters completed a sweep against the pesky Energy to advance to the best-of-seven semifinals, where they will face another tough squad in Rain or Shine.
Cabagnot paced Petron with 22 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, three rebounds, 12 assists and two steals, but five others chipped in double-digit points for the Boosters.
Rico Maierhofer, meanwhile, had a career-best 21 points for the Energy — which is also his best output in three conferences — but it wasn’t enough to pull Barako Bull through.
JC Intal and Miranda added 20 and 15, respectively, in the Energy’s last hurrah of the conference.