PBA Pre-Season Tournament: Washington leads SMB past Bulls

PBA Pre-Season Tournament: Washington leads SMB past Bulls
Manila Bulletin
September 17, 2008

Jay Washington and Mick Pennisi seemed perfectly fit for their new home -- San Miguel Beer.

Washington scored 18 points and Pennisi had six points, five rebounds and two assists as the Beermen beat the Red Bull Barakos, 99-90, on Monday at the start of the PBA pre-season tournament at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines gym.

By acquiring the two via separate trades, SMB became bigger and beefier and in process presenting match-up nightmare for opponents which the Barakos encountered through the game.

Apart from it, Washington and Pennisi are also blessed with good shooting touch so they provide coach Siot Tanquingcen a lot of offensive options other than Dondon Hontiveros, Danny Seigle and Danny Ildefonso.

"They're a big team. Obviously the addition of Mick and JayWash has made SMB a tough match-up," observed Red Bull deputy coach Gee Abanilla, who called the shots for the Barakos.

Tanquingcen though insists his troops need some more fine tuning to be fully cohesive.

Expectations, he admits, are high but it remains to be seen whether his new-look team is up to the task.

"It's always been that way. Expectations are always high. Hopefully this time we could deliver," Tanquingcen said.

Against a team that let go off three key players (Pennisi, Topex Robinson and Kiko Adriano), the Beermen dominated the game early and practically settled the issue by halftime as they cruised to a 64-40 advantage.

Cyrus Baguio scored 15 points to show the way for the Barakos.

The scores:

SMB 99 -- Washington 18, Seigle 15, Gonzales 15, Hontiveros 11, Pena 8, Bono 7, Pennisi 6, Custodio 5, Racaela 5, Calaguio 3, Villanueva 2, Pingris 2, Cortez 2.

Red Bull 90 -- Baguio 15, Sharma 14, Alvarez 9, Espinas 9, Membrere 8, Cruz 7, Magpayo 6, Rodriguez 6, Hubalde 6, Ybanez 3, Najorda 2 Hrabak 0, Duncil 0.

Quarters: 29-23; 64-40; 84-58; 99-90

Source: http://www.surfshop.net.ph/pba2/news/?id=5685