The Philippine Online Chronicles

The Phoenix Suns defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 104-95 to notch another victory in the 2011-2012 NBA season. Veteran forward Grant Hill led the Suns with 20 points while two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash contributed 13 points and 17 assists in the win. In spite of the Suns’ strong performance today, this is only their fourth win in the last 10 outings. For the Timberwolves on the other hand, power forward Kevin Love led the squad with 23 points while point guard Luke Ridnour chipped in 15.

In boxing, Filipino boxer Sonny Boy Jaro pulled off the biggest upset so far in boxing by knocking out longtime champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand to claim the WBC flyweight championship title. The 29-year old Jaro knocked down Wonjongkam in the first and fourth rounds before finally finishing the fight in the sixth. Jaro was a huge underdog going into the fight, but his relentless style was too much for Wonjongkam to handle. Since 2001, the Thai boxing legend has been considered as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

In the 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, the Barako Bull Energy snapped the Powerade Tigers’ three-game winning streak with a convincing 101-91 win earlier today in a game held at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. Replacement import Rodney White led the Bulls with 29 points, 14 coming in the first quarter. White temporarily replaced DerMarr Johnson who is trying to recover from an injury.

NBA: Suns 104, Timberwolves 95

Two years ago, the Phoenix Suns were just two games away from reaching the NBA Finals. After a couple of trades that sent some of their marquee players to other teams, the Suns find themselves a few games away from barging into the top eight teams in the Western conference.

In spite of the Suns’ struggles, they pulled off a solid 104-95 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to improve their record to 15-20. Veteran forward Grant Hill led the Suns’ charge with 20 points while two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash had 13 points and a season-high 17 assists.

Apart from Nash and Hill, the Suns received solid contribution from center Marcin Gortat who had 17 points while Shannon Brown scored 12 points, Channing Frye 14, and Jared Dudley 12.

For the Timberwolves, reigning “Most Improved Player” Kevin Love had 23 points while going 8-of-25 from the field. Apart from Love, only point guard Luke Ridnour played well for the Timberwolves as he chipped in 15 points.

The Timberwolves are playing their third game in three nights and the fatigue on their players was palpable against the Suns. The game was still close in the first half until the early part of the third quarter when the Timberwolves were still up. Eventually, the Suns tore it apart with a 13-3 run that put them ahead. Entering the final period, the Suns were up by three, 77-74. Though the Timberwolves cut the lead down to just one basket, the Suns made a 9-0 run and the Timberwolves never recovered from it.

Boxing: Jaro upsets Wonjongkam, wins WBC flyweight crown

Sonny Boy Jaro won the biggest fight of his career with a sixth-round TKO victory of longtime champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand to win the WBC flyweight title.

The 29-year old Jaro used a barrage of punches to wobble Wonjongkam early on and with less than a minute left in the first round, the Filipino knocked down the Thai. Wonjongkam never recovered from that as he struggled to find his footing in the entire fight.

In the second round, Wonjongkam landed some clean shots, but Jaro’s aggressive style was just too much for the Thai fighter. The 34-year old Wonjongkam ate a lot of leather until the third round.

In the fourth round, Jaro’s power and stamina began to become huge factors and that’s when the second knockdown happened. Wonjongkam has already lost his legs at this point and if not for the bell, Jaro would have been able to finish the fight already.

With Wonjongkam already in big trouble, Jaro hit him hard in the chin with a hard right that caused the Thai boxer to fall to the canvas in the sixth round. The Thai boxer failed to respond to Jaro’s flurry and that’s when the referee stepped in to finally end the fight.

PBA News: Barako Bull 101, Powerade 91

The Barako Bull Energy snapped their three-game losing streak with a much-needed win over the Powerade Tigers, 101-91, in the elimination round of the 2012 PBA Commissioner’s Cup. Barako Bull didn’t have their original reinforcement because of an injury, but Rodney White, their temporary import, put up big numbers to give the team the lift that they need.

White scored 29 points in the victory while local players Willie Miller had 24, Don Allado 15, and Ronald Tubid chipped in 13. With the win, the Barako Bull energy squad improved its record to 2-3 while the Tigers succumbed to their first loss in the tournament.

For the Tigers, Gary David had 25 points while import Dwayne Jones contributed 19. Rookie sensations JV Casio and Marcio Lassiter scored 17 and 15 points, respectively. The Tigers were able to cut the lead down to eight with just under five minutes to go, but the Barako Bull squad unleashed a 6-0 run that closed out the game.