Barako Bull gifted new coach Siot Tanquingcen a thrilling 95-94 victory over Meralco to open the PLDT Home Telpad Governors’ Cup on Sunday at SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity, it’s a good feeling,” said Tanquingcen, who took over coaching reins for Bong Ramos after serving as Barako Bull consultant last conference.
With the first win under his belt, Tanquingcen waxed philosophical about his team’s outlook.
“Best way to describe what we’re doing right now is just like a Chinese saying na, ‘A journet of a thousand miles begin with a single step.’ Nothing is a quick fix, that’s for sure,” said Tanquingcen, who has won titles in his previous stops at Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and San Miguel Beer.
Import Eric Wise scored 33 points, including the marginal free throw with 1.3 seconds remaining, to lead Barako Bull to the comeback victory.
“Eric’s not the flashiest import, pero malalaman mo lang yung import pag dating sa game,” said Tanquingcen.
Wise added 16 rebounds and six assists to completely dominate his matchup with Meralco counterpart Terrence Williams. A former NBA first-round pick, Williams managed to score 19 points, but did that on 4-of-19 shooting from the three-point line.
Barako Bull built a 21-point lead in the first half behind Wise, before the Bolts came charging back in the third period. Despite Williams’ shooting struggles, Meralco took control for a 70-68 advantage heading into the final quarter.
The Bolts opened the fourth period with a 12-3 run capped by a Sunday Salvacion three-pointer to push the lead to 11, 82-71.
“They got hot, Williams was shoot threes, (Cliff) Hodge threes, Sunday (Salvacion) threes, we just kept reminding guys, challenged naman eh, magaling talaga eh. Don’t get frustrated, Keep doing what we need to do.
But Barako Bull chipped away at the deficit, finally tying the game on a Wise basket, 87-all, with 1:51 remaining.
The game was still tied at 92-all after Williams and Barako Bull rookie Jeric Fortuna exchanged three-pointers. After Williams air-balled another attempt from deep, Wise scored to give Barako Bull a 94-92 advantage.
Carlo Lastimosa had a chance to ice the game for Barako Bull with 14.6 seconds left, but missed both free throws. That allowed Gary David to tie the game on the other end with his own pair of foul shots, 94-all, with 5.3 seconds left.
Barako Bull set up a play for Wise in the final possession, where he drew a foul for Williams. He scored the first free throw before missing the second, but Cliff Hodge’s desperation heave at the buzzer hit the back rim to allow Barako Bull to escape.
The scores:
BARAKO 95 – Wise 33, Fortuna 13, Lastimosa 10, Wilson 10, Miranda 8, Jensen 7, Marcelo 6, Intal 3, Pennisi 3, Thiele 2, Deutchman 0.
MERALCO 94 – Hodge 20, Williams 19, David 19, Dillinger 8, Timberlake 6, Salvacion 6, Bringas 4, Hugnatan 4, Wilson 4, Ildefonso 2, Sena 2, Guevarra 0.
Quarters: 28-17, 52-39, 68-70, 95-94
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