Energy bring down rough Clickers; Texters survive Llamados

Dorian Pena pushes the very mad on Coach Junel Baculi Homer Se causing Se to fall on the court. Photo by Nuki Sabio, PBA

MANILA, Philippines—Barako Bull roared to its third straight win as expected Friday night after bringing down lightweight sister team Shopinas.com, 96-78, in a PBA Philippine Cup game that had all the physicality to make up for the lack of quality of the Clickers at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Sunday Salvacion led four others in twin digits for the Energy with 14 points as Barako Bull, two nights after bringing down powerhouse Talk ‘N Text, dusted off the Clickers in a rugged middle two quarters before rising to 3-1 overall.

The first two periods were rough and play was halted with 9:56 left in the first half when Homer Se was shoved to the floor by Dorian Peña, who was protecting his coach from the attacking Shopinas.com center.

Both players were promptly thrown out with the score pegged at 22-18 in favor of the Energy before Barako Bull broke away with several spurts to take a 50-33 lead into the halftime break.

Talk ‘N Text survived the loss of a 13-point lead later in the night before hammering out a 96-94 victory over B-Meg.

Jared Dillinger scored 31 points and Ryan Reyes hit the Tropang Texters’ final three points inside the final 29.8 seconds as Talk ‘N Text claimed a second place tie with idle Rain or Shine and the Energy.

The Llamados rallied in the fourth quarter and flipped a 79-66 deficit to an 87-85 lead on a jumper by Peter June Simon with 3:21 in the final quarter.

“We got tired, we couldn’t play our pace. And they started making their shots. Fortunately we found a way to win in the end,” said Talk N’ Text head coach Chot Reyes. With reports from Celest R. Flores

The scores:
First Game
BARAKO BULL 96—Salvacion 14, Miller 13, Najorda 12, Arboleda 12, Allado 11, Maliksi 9, Artadi 7, Avenido 6, Pennisi 4, Ababou 3, Sorongon 2, Salvador 2, Pena 1.
SHOPINAS.COM 78—Ritualo 15, Hubalde 14, Jazul 10, Menor 10, Espiritu 9, Mirza 8, Canta 4, Duncil 4, Sena 3, Canlas 1, Ilad 0, Hermida 0, Se 0.
Quarters: 16-18, 50-33, 74-48, 96-78
Second Game
TALK ‘N TEXT 96—Dillinger 31, Williams 23, Peek 13, Fonacier 12, Reyes 11, Aban 4, Aguilar 2, Raymundo 0, Alvarez 0, Alapag 0.
B-MEG 94—Raymundo 18, J. Yap 14, Simon 13, Urbiztondo 11, Pingris 11, Devance 10, Barroca 8, Reavis 7, R. Yap 2, Acuna 0, Ferriols 0.
Quarters: 32-19, 49-37, 74-66, 96-94