PBA: Tubid emerges late, sends GlobalPort to the cellar

Barako Bull held their breath as Josh Vanlandingham's shot, a wide-open triple, went up. It missed, consigning the GlobalPort Batang Pier to the cellar of the standings. The Energy survived a back-and-forth game that went down the wire, eking out a 95-94 win over the Batang Pier, Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The win by Barako allowed them to improve to 3-5 in the standings, snapping a three-game losing streak in the process, while GlobalPort slumped further to just a single win in eight outings. Up 77-74 at the start of the fourth quarter, Barako Bull gave up a 12-2 run to GlobalPort. The Batang Pier's barrage was capped by triples from Miller and Vanlandingham, putting them up 86-79. With 5:22 left, Barako Bull got within two points, 86-84, and the two sides continued to swap buckets until Enrico Villanueva towed his side forward, to trail by a solitary point, 94-93, 1:37 remaining. On the next play, rookie Vic Manuel committed an offensive foul, sending the ball back to Barako, but Sean Anthony was unable to save a loose ball by Villanueva, giving possession back. Willie Miller's lay-up was just too strong though, as GlobalPort failed to capitalize. The next time down for Barako Bull, Villanueva drew a triple-team, and smartly dumped the ball to Ronald Tubid, who was left wide open under the basket. But Tubid flubbed back-to-back attempts, leading to a scramble for the rebound, which wound up in the hands of Sean Anthony. Anthony zipped it to Tubid who was wide open anew, and this time he wasn't going to miss, scoring the go-ahead score. GlobalPort still had 18.1 seconds to steal the victory, but after the defense collapsed on Miller on the perimeter, the former two-time MVP sent the ball to Al Vergara, who drove and then kicked the ball to Vanlandingham beyond the arc. Unfortunately though, he missed, allowing Barako Bull to escape. "I told Ronald: Instead of passsing off, it's your ball, it's your game, it's your play. You've got to step up on the plate especially on the scoring position," said Barako head coach Junel Baculi. "If there are instances like that, he has to take it." Barako Bull got a tremendous game from Tubid who scored 19 points with five rebounds, but it was the game long brillance of the reemerging Villanueva that kept their team in the game. Villanueva scored 18 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out four assists in 41 minutes of play. Even with the big win, Baculi said that there is no time to have a break. "Our next game is against Air21 and they beat Petron so we have to be ready for the game on Friday." - Carlo Pamintuan/AMD/RAF, GMA News