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Source: abs-cbnnews.com

-- Burger King got its first back-to-back win in the tournament after dismantling Barako Bull, 102-86, in the KFC-Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Friday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Ronjay Buenafe fired a team-high 17 points, including a 3-of-5 shooting from the three-point zone, to power the Whoppers to their third win in eight games and get back in the hunt for a better spot in the next round.

Carlo Sharma added 14 markers for coach Yeng Guiao. Egay Billones and Gary David chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively.

“We’re just surely picking up the phase,” said Guiao. “In our last two games, we were able to improve our free throw shooting and defense.”

Ogie Menor and Paolo Hubalde each had 17 points for the Energy Boosters, who have now lost their fourth straight loss and slipped to a 2-6 record.

Burger King, which came from a 106-07 win over Coca-Cola last Wednesday, led by as much as 19 points in the first half before the Energy Booster made their moves in the third and closed in at 55-62 with 2:57 left in that stage.

Barako Bull last threatened at 64-69 early in the final canto before Buenfae anchored a crucial 7-0 swing capped by his three-pointer to push the lead back to 76-64 with 9:44 remaining in the game.

The Whoppers were never threatened since then as they even padded their advantage to 15 points in the fourth period twice, the last was 88-73 under six minutes left in the contest.

Guiao is now 3-0 against his former team, which he led to three titles – in 2001 and 2002 Commissioner’s Cup and the 2005-06 Fiesta Conference.

Aces keep top spot

Alaska crawled back from 21 points deficit and scored a tension-filled 110-106 come-from-behind win over defending champion Talk ‘N Text to solidify its hold of the top spot with 7-1 win-loss mark.

Two-time MVP Willie Miller led the Aces with 20 points while Sonny Thoss and Joe Devance added18 and 16 markers respectively for coach Tim Cone.

Ranidel de Ocampo led the Tropang Texters with 16 markers while Mark Cardona was held down to ‘just’ 15 in the game. Talk ‘N Text, which lost head coach Chot Reyes in the four for incurring two technical fouls, dropped to 4-3.

The Tropang Texters are now tied with Purefoods Tender Juicy and Sta. Lucia Realty for fourth spot in the team standing.

Gilas wins second tune-up game

Mac Baracael hit a game-high 20 points to power Smart Gilas developmental team to a 96-89 win over Rain or Shine in their exhibition match.

Japeth Aguilar added 19 markers for coach Rajko Toroman, who decided to send CJ Giles back to the United States due to attitude problem. Giles was considered to be the country’s naturalized player for international competition.

But even without Giles, the national team of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas played one solid unit against the Elasto Painters all throughout the match.

Top rookie Jervy Cruz led Rain or Shine with 16 points while Gabe Norwood and Ryan Arana contributed 14 and 12 points respectively for coach Caloy Garcia.