PBA: Bolts blitz Barako, secure q'finals berth

(Updated 8:09pm) The Meralco Bolts defused the hot-starting Barako Bull Energy Cola, 105-98, in the 2014 PBA Commissioner's Cup, Friday, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Meralco (4-4) snapped a two-game skid and moved to solo fifth place, and also assured that Alaska (4-3) entered the quarterfinals as well. Barako Bull (2-7) will likely miss the quarterfinals unless they win their last game against GlobalPort (0-7) to have a shot at a playoff game for eighth.

Darnell Jackson led the way with 30 points, five rebounds and five assists. Jared Dillinger had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Gary David tallied 15 points and five assists, while John Wilson also had 15 points to go with six rebounds.

Chris Timberlake, in his first game in the Commissioner's CUp after going scoreless during seven games in the last conference, had a career-high 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. Cliff Hodge added 10 points, six rebounds and two steals.

The Energy led by as much as 22 points in the second quarter, but couldn't keep up when Meralco turned up the intensity on defense. A combination of zone defenses and turnovers flustered Barako Bull, and sent them to their fifth loss in their last six games.

"We started the game flat, but you don't lose the game of basketball in the first quarter or the second quarter or the third quarter," said coach Ryan Gregorio. "We didn't want to let it slip away, so we're going to be back in the playoffs."

Gregorio didn't like his team's bad start, but said that a change in attitude might've helped their team catch up. "I think I gave my players too much pressure to start the game. Sometimes when you overemphasize things you tend to be the culprit that froze your players," he said. "But when we were down I changed my mantra and said let's just enjoy the game, and sometimes we forget that the game of basketball should be enjoyed."

"If that's going to be us–the comeback kids–I wouldn't mind that," he said.

 
Josh Dollard began the game with a driving one-handed dunk, which summed up what happened over the next 12 minutes. The Energy scored six triples in the quarter, and Dollard dropped 11 points, while poor shot selection and foul trouble hamstrung the Bolts. At the end of the first, Barako Bull led 33-20.

Barako Bull scored eight straight to improve to 41-20. The Bolts however shifted to a zone defense, which slowed the Energy down over the last 10 minutes. Barako Bull's offense slowly came to life as Darnell Jackson netted seven points, while Jared Dillinger hit three treys, to close the half on a 22-13 tear, 54-42.

Jackson and Dillinger remained hot after the break, splashing jumper after jumper as Barako Bull's offense devolved to isolation plays for Dollard. But the Energy couldn't get into a good flow, as most of their possessions led to turnovers or free throws for their import. The Bolts closed the gap by the quarter's end, as John Wilson's layup with three seconds left sliced the lead to a single point, 74-73.

Meralco seized their first lead of the game on a Wilson three early in the fourth, 78-74, and limited the Energy to low-efficiency looks. The Bolts got out in the open court, with Jackson starring in a 16-5 run midway through the period, 96-88, forcing the Energy to call timeout with 3:45 to play.

JC Intal drove for two when play resumed, but they couldn't summon the same fluidity they had early on. A couple of bad turnovers by Mick Pennisi in the last two minutes sealed their fate–stepping out of bounds before committing a bad outlet pass–and kept them from coming closer than four points, 98-92, with a minute left to play.

The Bolts shot 39-of-75 (52 percent) against Barako Bull's 31-of-69 (44.9 percent). They also committed just 14 turnovers while forcing the Energy into 21, leading to a 25-20 margin in turnover points.

Josh Dollard had a game-high 33 points, 15 rebounds and two steals, but committed six turnovers. JC Intal and Mick Pennisi each had 12 points and five rebounds. Jeric Fortuna added 11 points and five assists. - RAF, GMA News


The scores:

MERALCO 105 - Jackson 30, Dillinger 16, David 15, Wilson 15, Timberlake 12, Hodge 10, Hugnatan 7, Caram 0, Salvacion 0, Sena 0, Guevarra 0.

BARAKO 98 - Dollard 33, Intal 12, Pennisi 12, Fortuna 11, Miller 9, Miranda 8, Wilson 7, Marcelo 3, Buenafe 3, Pena 0.

Quarters: 20-33, 42-54, 73-74, 105-98