Alex Mallari made sure thath the Mahindra Floodbuster won’t end the Holiday season winless
The left-handed Mallari banged in a career-tying 23 points, hauled down 11 rebounds, issued four assists, and added four steals to gift the Floodbuster a thrilling 97-93 overtime win against the Blackwater Elite on Christmas Day at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
The Fiipinol-American wingman was at his best in the payoff quarter, firing nine points to help Mahindra stage a giant comeback from a 15-point deficit and force the extension period.
“The lanes just opened up and I just kept attacking,” Mallari reflected.
“We try to implement the Houston Rockets-style of offense and that has been helping us.”
Mahindra then, rode on the momentum of its late-game fightback to finally barge into the win column after opening the Philippine Cup with five straight losses.
Mallari’s scintillating performance earned him the last Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week for 2016, beating out the likes of Phoenix rookie Matthew Wright, Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar, Rain or Shine big man Jewel Ponferada, and Blackwater freshman Mac Belo.
After helping give his new team its breakthrough win, the four-time PBA champion believes that the young Floodbuster squad are startng to figure it out.
“The sweetest part about it is that we were down by how many again? 15? Wow, I did not know that was 15,” the 29-year-old said.
“The break that we were in really helped, we are starting to figure things out and put the right guys on the right spot.”
Mahindra will take a long break before swinging back to action on January 11 against Meralco at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
