gabby-espinas-red-bull-barakos

Photo Credit: PBA.ph

After soaring high with a 4-game win streak, the San Miguel Beermen crashed back to the ground as the Red Bull Barakos humbled them with 114-113 win at the Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental in an out-of-town game.

The Red Bull Barakos dominated the San Miguel Beermen with their sharp shooting from beyond the arc, a fine offensive performance from their bigmen, and a stingy defense that limited inside and outside offense of San Miguel.

The Beermen controlled the game only in the first quarter and Red Bull took over from there. After that, San Miguel played catchup and was able to do so in the dying minutes but only to lose time to complete a comeback. It was a high scoring ballgame and the Beermen’s defense was visibly not there.

Gabby Espinas shines for the Barakos as he tallied 16 points against his former team.

Marc Pingris was not there for unknown reasons as well as injured Danny Seigle.

PBA.ph tells us the full story.

BARAKOS MAKE IT TWO IN A ROW AFTER 0-3 START
Red Bull stuns SMB on the road as Espinas shines in endgame
Saturday, 25 October 2008

GINGOOG CITY, Misamis Oriental. – Gabby Espinas played his biggest game so far in a Red Bull uniform, helping the Barakos pull the rug from under the powerhouse and former team San Miguel Beer team in a KFC PBA Philippine Cup road showcase at the Arturo S. Lugod gym here.

Espinas, the former NCAA Rookie-MVP awardee who was selected fifth overall by the Beermen in the 2006 PBA Draft, tossed in 16 points and came through with two crucial plays down the stretch as the Barakos stunned SMB, 114-113, after breaking into the win-column with a 100-94 decision over the Barangay Ginebra Kings at the Araneta Coliseum Sunday.

Red Bull, which swept San Miguel Beer in a best-of-three quarterfinal in last season’s tourney, also drew solid games from Cyrus Baguio, Celino Cruz and Leo Najorda as they scored back-to-back victories following a 0-3 start in the all-Filipino tourney.

The Barakos caught up with the Air21 Express at seventh place while relegating the Beermen (4-2) back to second place behind the Alaska Milk Aces (4-1).

Najorda scored 10 of his 14 points in the last quarter while Cruz, Baguio and Espinas combined for four lethal charities in the last 20 seconds.

Up against his former team which traded him to Air21 last season before being acquired by Red Bull a few months ago, Espinas stood tall at crunch time, getting a big steal, nailing a free throw and grabbing a defensive rebound, all inside the last 20 seconds.

The whole Red Bull team put up a surprise performance together dominating the highly-fancied Beermen in the last three quarters of play.

San Miguel Beer, which has now lost its last five outings in the Philippine Cup against Red Bull, actually pulled abreast at 110-all on an eight-to-nothing run but the Barakos stayed unfazed and leaned on crucial free throws by Cruz, Baguio and Espinas to preserve the win.

A defensive stop by Espinas on Jay Washington set up Baguio for his two free throws, giving Red Bull a 113-110 lead with time down to 14.1 seconds.

San Miguel eventually yielded the game as Lordy Tugade misfired a three-point try from the right flank then Espinas grabbed the defensive rebound.

After Espinas split his charities off a quick San Miguel foul, Dondon Hontiveros banged in a three-pointer for the final tally.

The Beermen took the initiative at the start but the Barakos hit their strides in the second quarter, rallying from a 23-33 deficit to seize a 61-58 lead at the half.

The Barakos stretched the margin to 90-82 at the end of the third and showed tremendous poise in fending off the Beermen’s chase at endgame.

Baguio totaled 17 points as he led six Red Bull players who scored in double figures. Hontiveros paced the Beermen with 19. (NC)

The scores:

Red Bull 114 – Baguio 17, Espinas 16, Cruz 15, Sharma 14, Najorda 14, Rodriguez 11, Hubalde 10, Hrabak 6, Chan 6, Alvarez 3, Duncil 2.

San Miguel 113 – Hontiveros 21, Washington 16, Tugade 15, Custodio 15, Villanueva 13, Pena 12, Racela 10, Bono 6, Gonzales 4, Calaguio 1.

Quarterscores: 23-33, 61-58, 90-82, 114-113

I didn’t get my prediction right. On a bright note, the San Miguel Beermen fought till the end and almost stole the ballgame from the Red Bull Barakos. SMB needs to learn how to win close games.