Dubai: Barako Bull were given a well deserved day off by coach Rajko Toroman after finishing top of Group B at the Second Al Shabab Basketball Championship late on Monday.
“The team has done so well in all three matches they deserve a day off to recover,” the Philippines-based side’s boss said after their third straight win, a 94-63 thrashing of US-based Team Unity.
“The break will allow the team to relax and be prepared for our quarter-final on Thursday.”
Riding on Michael Singletary’s exploits, Barako Bull have been the team to watch in this week-long competition. The PBA side opened with an 80-75 win over Al Ahli of Libya and followed up with an 80-72 triumph against Egypt’s Zamalek and Monday’s victory.
But Mark Macapagal, who had 17 points including five three-pointers against Team Unity, sounded a note of caution ahead of the last-eight stage. “It means we start from zero. All three wins mean nothing to us when we play on Thursday. So the rest ought to be for the body and not the mind,” he said.
“We are the only unbeaten team so far and I hope we can keep this momentum going into the knockout stages. I hope all of us wake up from the right side of the bed like we did today [Monday].”
The Filipino side established a healthy 15-point lead, 24-9, by the end of the opening period built mainly on Singletary’s ten points.
Barako Bull did not slacken off in the second quarter, with Macapagal helping himself to 11 points and Singletary adding another six to open up a 49-27 lead.
With Team Unity unable to keep pace with the swift-moving Filipino side, the score was 72-47 at the end of the penultimate quarter.
In the day’s first match, Libya’s Al Ahli secured their second win in as many days with a 65-64 result over Egyptian side Zamalek.
