Just as in Game One of this series, the Star Hotshots once again made the clutch stops, fighting off every comeback attempt by the Baraganay Ginebra San Miguel in a 91-89 win to go up 2-0, Saturday evening at a packed SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
This is Star’s eighth straight win, and they have yet to lose since January 11, but first-year Star head coach Chito Victolero is still not resting on his laurels even after an imposing 2-0 series lead.
“Right now, parang hindi mo naman mahuhuli si coach Tim. Yung kanyang coaching style, experience, hindi mo siya ma-outcoach e,” Victolero said, sharing that they will return to the drawing board. “It’s just about our preparation and our team effort. From the players to the coaching staff to the support staff, everyone did their job.”
In an encore performance, it was Paul Lee who led Star, scoring eight of his 17 points in the final frame — including the breakaway layup with 58 second remaining to seal the win for the Hotshots.
Allein Maliksi added 14 points off the bench, while Marc Pingris added 10 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in 37 minutes of action.
“I expect Jio [Jalalon] and Paul to step up and so with Marc [Pingris],” Victolero remarked. “Lahat naman sila willing to step up.”
Thompson was able to answer Lee’s shot to cut the lead to just two with 36 ticks remaining. However, Star’s bruiser Rafi Reavis was at the right place and at the right time, cleaning up a Paul Lee miss that led to two free throws.
“It’s all about our big heart, our aggressiveness, everything. I’m very proud of my players because they did not give up. They know that Ginebra will come out strong but they never gave up,” Victolero reflected.
Star led by as much as 10 points during the second frame. Ginebra, though, came out of the third frame swinging, and behind Kevin Ferrer’s six third quarter points, were able to be within striking distance in the final frame.
Gilas cadet Kevin Ferrer, who scored just seven points in Game One, paced Ginebra by setting his career-high 25 markers on 10-of-20 shooting.
“It’s about our execution and we played very good defense during the last five minutes of the game,” Victolero said.
An 8-2 rally by Ginebra with 4:51 left gave Ginebra an 83-81 lead as the Barangay went raucous after a Thompson basket capped the rally. But the troika of Lee, Jalalon, and Justin Melton played pesky defense once more, stifling Ginebra in the end game.
Star were out-rebounded in the game 34-46. But the Hotshots’ 45 bench points, complimented by their defense — which forced Ginebra to 17 turnovers — negated their disadvantage.
Japeth Aguilar and Thompson both picked up double-doubles, with the former scoring 16 points and grabbing 15 rebounds, while Thompson flirted with a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.
Game Three of the series takes place on Monday, February 13, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Scores:
Star (91) – Lee 17, Maliksi 14, Melton 11, Pingris 10, Jalalon 9, Reavis 9, Barroca 8, Sanngalang 6, Ramos 5, Dela Rosa 2, Simon 0, Brondial 0.
Ginebra (89) – Ferrer 25, Thompson 17, Aguilar 16, Tenorio 8, Mariano 7, Mercado 6, Caguioa 2, Cruz 2, Ellis 2, Helterbrand 2, Taha 2, Jamito 0, Marcelo 0.
Quarterscores: 27-23, 50-45, 72-69, 91-89.
