Miranda to the rescue as Petron tops Barako; Alaska repulses Powerade

Denok Miranda vs Danny Seigle. Photo by Nuki Sabio, PBA

MANILA, Philippines—Dennis Miranda figured out a way to take charge.

Miranda spearheaded Petron Blaze’s come-from-behind 75-66 victory over Barako Bull Friday night in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Clanking his first three attempts, Miranda rose to the occasion and finished with 21 points, including 10 in the fourth period, when the surging Boosters shifted to high gear with a decisive 15-2 endgame foray.

“We couldn’t get it going, so I made sure to be extra aggressive out there,” said Miranda after going 8 of 16 from the field, highlighted by four three-pointers.

Lordy Tugade, reactivated after fully recovering from a fractured right hand, complemented Miranda’s fine form with 11 points while Arwind Santos, Petron’s double-double machine, had 15 points and 13 rebounds despite flubbing 12 of his 18 shots.

“Our shooters were off,” said Petron Blaze coach Ato Agustin. “Denok just stepped up by bringing his championship form.”

The Boosters, who will have a week off, solidified their hold of third place with a fourth straight win, their seventh overall in 10 outings.

They have a good chance at making the No. 2 spot in the playoffs with games against Meralco, Alaska, Barangay Ginebra and conference-leader Talk ‘N Text coming up.

Rookie Chris Lutz’s right hamstring acted up again, forcing Agustin to sideline his prized rookie after carrying the Boosters with a 22-point performance over the Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters recently.

“There are a lot of injuries in our team. Somebody has to take over from these guys,” said Miranda, whose trey capped the Boosters’ run, giving them a comfortable 69-62 lead.

The Energy, losing for the second straight time, now have five wins against four losses despite getting huge contributions from Willie Miller, Dorian Peña and Mick Pennisi.

Peña and Miller had 16 points while Pennisi added 11 before his ejection for excessive complaining, 1:35 remaining.

L.A. Tenorio and Tony Dela Cruz fired 23 points each as Alaska wore down Powerade, 121-111, in the other game that kept the Aces in contention for a playoff spot.

Mac Baracael proved to be the difference for the Aces, whose success last night brought them to 2-7 after suffering back-to-back losses lately.

Playing power forward, the 6-foot-4 Baracael had a career-high 22 points in puncturing the Tigers’ interior defense all game long.

Top rookie pick JV Casio also put up scintillating figures of 26 points and 11 assists while fellow Smart Gilas teammate Marcio Lassiter came up with a conference-best 25 points, though their efforts weren’t enough to stop the Tigers from bleeding.

They absorbed a fourth straight defeat and are fast plummeting to the cellar at 3-7.

The scores:
First Game
PETRON 75—Miranda 21, Santos 15, Tugade 11, Cabagnot 8, Ildefonso 8, Baclao 4, Guevarra 4, Reyes 2, Yeo 2, Agustin 0, Sharma 0.
BARAKO 66—Miller 16, Pena 16, Pennisi 12, Allado 9, Najorda 4, Salvador 4, Arboleda 3, Seigle 2, Ababou 0, Artadi 0, Salvacion 0.
Quarters: 12-18, 35-33, 51-52, 75-66