Purefoods beat surprising Barakos

Kerby Raymundo and Rico Villanueva made their shots when it mattered most as the Purefoods TJ Giants survived a tough challenge from the Red Bull Barakos, 77-73, Wednesday night in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

With top gunner James Yap unable to find his offensive rhythm, Raymundo took care of business, pouring 11 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter to spark a fiery charge by the Giants, who fell behind by many as 16 points early in the third quarter.

The Giants still trailed 60-67 with 9:35 left to play but turned the game around with a 15-2 run starring Raymund and Villanueva, whose back-to-back baskets gave Purefoods the lead for the first time, 72-69. Raymundo had nine points in that run, ending it with a shotclock-beating fadeaway jumper and a free throw later to seal the victory.

"It's a tough win. Red Bull may have lost their stars but for as long as (head coach) Yeng (Guiao) is there that team remains dangerous," said Purefoods mentor Ryan Gregorio, who dug deep into his bench by rotating 12 players.

Gregorio admitted they took the Barakos lightly in the early going and nearly paid dearly for it had it not been for his two star big men finding their groove when things looked bleak.

Raymundo, who led all scorers, also had 15 rebounds while Villanueva tallied 15 points and 11 boards to also finish with a double-double.

Peter Jun Simon scored 18 points including 13 in the third quarter to keep the Giants in the game. What's surprising about the Giants victory was that they only had five assists, a league all-time record for a winning team.

With Red Bull rebuilding around a cast of role players, the Barakos are, according to experts, once again never expected to become a major contender this conference.

That belief nearly cost the Giants, who had to summon their championship experience to overcome an impressive performance by the Barakos.

Red Bull, which, however, has been to the Final Four in the last seven conferences despite losing its big-named stars over the last two seasons, opened the game with a 12-2 run and kept the Giants, last year’s Philippine Cup losing finalist, under siege for most part of the game.

The Barakos posted the game's biggest lead at 47-31 early in the third but they sputtered in the closing minutes and allowed a golden opportunity to slip away.

Gabby Espinas led Red Bull with a career-high 18 points but had five turnovers, three in the closing minutes as the Barakos lost control. Cyrus Baguio contributed 10 points but he was the only other Barako in double figure. Last year’s Most Improved Player also didn’t have any field goal attempt in the second half where he played for just 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, Talk N' Text tries to extend its luck against undermanned Air21 in their 6 o'clock encounter scheduled Thursday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The Tropang Texters opened their campaign with a freakish 98-97 victory against Coca-Cola last Saturday and are expected to easily hurdle the challenge of the Express, who will be without Arwind Santos and Homer Se.

The two Express are serving a one-game suspension for their rough plays in their 120-102 defeat to Rain or Shine last Sunday (DBC).

The scores:

Purefoods 77 - Raymundo 23, Simon 18, Villanueva 15, Yap R. 9, Yap J. 8, Bugia 2, Robinson 2, Belga 0, Alonzo 0, Lanete 0, Aban 0, Salvador 0.

Red Bull 73 - Espinas 18, Baguio 10, Duncil 9, Najorda 9, Cruz 7, Rodriguez 6, Chan 5, Hubalde 5, Alvarez 4, Ybanez 0, Hrabak 0.