Kerby Raymundo, Marc Pingris and Richard Yee went to work in the second half as the Giants repeatedly attacked the shaded area and dwarfed the Bulls’ frontline.

They combined for 23 points as the Giants erased a nine-point halftime deficit and took a 67-62 leadgoing into the payoff period.

The Giants continued to dominate in the final quarter and the lead swelled to twin figures on a lay-up by Yee, 73-62. It swelled to 13 a possession later on a trey by James Yap, 75-62.

The lead was at its biggest after another bucket by Yee, 84-67, 5:52 to play.

That’s when the Bulls mounted a comeback.

Cyrus Baguio, Mick Pennisi and Lordy Tugade hit a three-pointer each to pull the Bulls to within 76-84. But Yap, Raymundo and Pingris scored on the next three possessions by the Giants to douse the Bulls’ rally.

Pingris, limited to four points and four rebounds in Game 1, finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Noy Castillo, who only had one point in the series opener, also made his presence felt with his fourth three-pointer in as many tries tying the count for the last time, 54-all.

The Giants will gun for a 3-0 lead tomorrow after the awarding of the Best Player of the Conference at the Araneta Coliseum.

For the second straight game, the Giants started out fast. They scored the first seven points and raced to a 16-point lead, 20-4, on a basket by Marc Pingris with three minutes left in the opening frame.

But the Bulls were as quick to recover, trimming the gap to 11 at quarter’s end, 13-24, and completely turning the tide before the turn.

With Tugade hitting 13 points, the Bulls outscored the Giants in the second period, 35-15, to take a 48-39 halftime lead. The Bulls were actually +25 at that point after falling into a 16-point hole.

The scores:

Purefoods 93 — J. Yap 23, Pingris 21, Yee 17, Raymundo 12, Castillo 12, Limpot 8, Artadi 0, Simon 0, Gamboa 0, R. Yap 0, Evangelista 0.

Red bull 82 — Tugade 18, Villanueva 13, Baguio 11, Najorda 8, Pennisi 7, Fonacier 6, Bugia 6, Robinson 6, Cruz 5, Hrabak 2, Valenzuela 0.

Quarters: 24-13, 39-48, 67-62, 93-82.