DJ Mbenga (light/barako bull) vs Sly Morgan
MANILA, Philippines—Barako Bull overcame a slow start to beat GlobalPort, 96-87, and end its PBA Commissioner’s Cup campaign on a winning note Sunday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Energy Cola, who are out of quarterfinals contention, drew a solid outing from swingman Allein Maliksi, who scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
“It was not an important win for us but we fought to win this game. We wanted to finish the [conference] with a win,” said Barako Bull consultant Rajko Toroman.
Barako Bull faced an early 11-20 deficit but got it going as the game went on. Maliksi, the inaugural PBA D-League MVP, scored 11 in the third quarter where the Energy pulled ahead, 69-56, after three – before holding off a late surge by GlobalPort.
Josh Urbiztondo added 17 points including a triple that made it, 88-83, with only 1:50 left.
“It was a disappointing season for us because we played good basketball from the start,” added Toroman, whose team finished second to the last in the standings with a 5-9 mark.
The Batang Pier, who ended the conference with an 11-game losing skid for a league-worst 2-12 record, faltered in the end with their import Sylvester Morgan scoring just seven points. Gary David carried the load anew with 28 points on six-of-15 shooting from deep.