Josh Dollard of Barako Bull (light) vs Alex McLean and Larry Rodriguez of Rain or Shine (dark). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines — Import Joshua Dollard sustained his fiery form as Barako Bull slipped past Rain or Shine, 110-106, in the 2014 PLDT MyDSL Commissioner’s Cup Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Dollard, who erupted for 45 points in a sorry 104-108 loss to Barangay Ginebra in overtime last Friday, still had the hot hand as he cashed in 44 points to lead the Energy.
“At least now we learned from last game,” said Barako Bull coach Bong Ramos, whose team dropped its first game of the conference despite leading by double-digits. “Although it’s still a problem for us. We led by 10 or eight points and we just won by four. But this is a good experience for us.”
The Energy, who came back from 16 points down, took a 101-91 buffer after an 11-1 run with Dollard scoring nine points during that key stretch with 4:11 left before Paul Lee’s 3-pointer cut it down to, 101-97, with still 2:56 left.
A Beau Belga putback pulled ROS to within two, 106-108, before Willy Wilson, who just checked in, iced the game with two free throws in the final 2.6 ticks.
“We were surprised. We didn’t expect that he will play like this,” said Ramos of Dollard, who was actually a backup reinforcement after the team’s initial plan of bringing in Dwayne Chism didn’t materialize due to contractual problems.
Willie Miller added 19 points and collected eight rebounds and five assists while Ronjay Buenafe sparked a Barako Bull surge in the third quarter to wind up with 11 points.
Alex McLean scored just 21 points and had 16 rebounds while Paul Lee chipped in 15 for the Painters.
The Energy won despite having zero second chance points but made 12 out of their 30 attempts from long range.
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