HARD-WORKING Purefoods forward Marc Pingris beats the 7-foot-1 Solomon Alabi of Barako Bull to the rebound in last night’s game at Smart Araneta Coliseum. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
MANILA, Philippines—Defending champion Purefoods clipped Barako Bull Tuesday night and took the elimination round lead while formally barging into the upper half of the playoff bracket after a 103-96 victory over the Energy at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
READ: Bowles unleashes 34 points as Purefoods trips Barako Bull
With Denzel Bowles leading the way, the Star Hotshots rose to 7-3 and to the top after Alaska outlasted erstwhile leader Meralco, 108-103, in double overtime later in the night.
READ: Alaska boosts playoff bid with 2OT win over Meralco
It was the third straight win for the Hotshots, who dropped the Energy to their fourth straight loss in a 4-6 card.
The Alaska victory gave the Aces a 4-5 card, tied for sixth spot with three others as the Bolts, who couldn’t maximize the disqualification of Aces import Damion Jones late in the first extension, fell into a tie for second with Rain or Shine and Talk ‘N Text at 6-3.
The Purefoods win assured the Hotshots of advancing to the quarterfinals as the fifth seeds at worst.
Bowles scored 21 of his game-high 34 points in the breakaway third period as the Hotshots wriggled out of a halftime tie to eventually win while the Energy jeopardized their chances of advancing.
Only a careless finish by the Hotshots in the waning minutes allowed the Energy to come threateningly close at the finish, to the consternation of head coach Tim Cone.
“We got sloppy in the end,” Cone told reporters after they kept a top-two finish—and a twice-to-beat privilege—in sight. “We’re playing playoff games in our minds right now.”
The Hotshots will lose in quotient to both the Tropang Texters and the Elasto Painters in the event of a three-way tie for a top two berth.
Solomon Alabi led the Energy with 29 points and 19 rebounds.
The scores:
First Game
PUREFOODS 103—Bowles 34, Devance 15, Maliksi 13, Pingris 8, Melton 8, Pennisi 7, Barroca 6, Yap 6, Simon 3, Mallari 2, Taha 1.
BARAKO BULL 96—Alabi 29, Lanete 21, Intal 15, Mercado 14, Garcia 5, Pascual 4, Hubalde 4, Marcelo 4, Lastimosa 0, Matias 0, salva 0.
Quarters: 19-24, 47-47, 81-72, 103-96
Second Game
ALASKA 108—James 25, Abueva 18, Banchero 13, Hontiveros 12, Baguio 12, Manuel 11, Thoss 8, Jazul 7, Exciminiano 2, Dela Cruz 0.
MERALCO 103—Davis 34, Cortez 16, Dillinger 15, Wilson 13, Hodge 9, David 7, Anthony 3, Ildefonso 2, Caram 2, Hugnatan 2, Macapagal 0.
Quarters: 24-18, 45-44, 72-69, 87-87 (reg.), 97-97 (1OT), 108-103 (2OT)