Rookie Larry Fonacier again led Red Bull's offense with 25 points, his second straight career-high output in the series, but it was Villanueva who made noise in the down the stretch. The Barakos' star center scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and was actually responsible for the his team’s final 12 points in the game.
You can't help but be happy for Fonacier, who most people tought would never play the game again, after sustaining an ACL injury a couple of games into his last season for the Ateneo in the UAAP, two years ago. Now, he and fellow Ateneo alum Enrico Villanueva are carrying the load for the Red Bull Barako in the PBA (Paolo Bugia plays off the bench). Now, if they can only get Rich Alvarez and Wesley Gonzales...
He was probably the only recent Blue Eagle of note that did not earn as much ire from the other side, as some of his more colorful teammates, say, Villanueva or Gonzales. This is notable, considering the fact that his two successive blocks on Mac Cardona in the 2002 UAAP Finals not only sent DLRT packing in Game 1, but also sold a lot of newspapers along Katipunan the next day, as a perfect shot of one of the blocks made it to the front page of the Inquirer, no less.
