Denok Miranda of Barako (light) vs Joseph Yeo of Ginebra (dark). NUKI SABIO/PBA
MANILA, Philippines — Barangay Ginebra San Miguel rode on a blistering run in the fourth quarter to keep Barako Bull winless, 94-75, in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Kings went on a 23-3 run that turned their slim lead to a commanding 87-64 buffer on a layup by Mac Baracael with five minutes left.
Joseph Yeo scored 12 points during that scoring binge — swishing four 3-pointers from the left corner. He finished with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the three-point area that went with seven rebounds and four assists.
“I thought especially in the first two quarters and a half it was very difficult for us,” said Ginebra coach Jeffrey Cariaso. “What I like about what happened tonight is that we were able to adjust and luckily a guy named Joseph Yeo was with us.”
The Energy were in good position to finally barge into the win column when they led by 13 late in the second quarter.
But the Kings, who have now won their third straight game to move into solo second place with a 5-1 slate, found their way back before going on a fiery finish in the fourth quarter behind their potent offense led by Yeo’s hot hand.
Yeo, who made all of his four 3-point attempts in the last quarter, sank his first triple at the 10-minute mark that gave Ginebra a 72-61 lead and knocked down his fourth one for an 85-64 lead with 5:39 remaining.
Mark Caguioa added 15 points and kept Barako Bull from pulling away with 11 points in the second period.
Denok Miranda topscored with 19 points for the Energy, who dropped to 0-6.
Ginebra assisted on 32 out of its 35 field goals and turned the ball over just 11 times. The Kings also held the Energy to only 34% shooting from the field.