MANILA, Philippines—Gabe Freeman led Barako Bull’s balanced attack with 34 points to propel the Energy to the semifinals after a 106-85 drubbing of Alaska Sunday in the 37th PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Freeman bucked early foul trouble as he scored 20 points of his game high in the pivotal first half where Barako Bull established its game.
Ronald Tubid and Willie Miller added 20 points each for the Energy, who will face the defending champions Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in a best-of-five semis series starting on Tuesday at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo.
Tubid went five-of-nine from beyond-the-arc.
The Aces led briefly midway in the second period before the Energy took control on three straight conversions beyond-the-arc.
Barako Bull pulled away at the tailend of the third period and took the game out of reach in the final quarter. The Energy led by as much as 25 points, 106-81, on a basket by Danny Seigle.
Despite the Aces’ size advantage with a slew of bigs in import Adam Parada, Sonny Thoss and JayR Reyes, the Energy held a 57-40 rebounding edge, 21-8 in offensive boards.
Parada had 18 points but only grabbed seven rebounds.