In one of the craziest endings in the PBA Governor’s Cup so far, the Star Hotshots kept their campaign alive in a 104-103 squeaker over the Meralco Bolts at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday evening.
Star (11th, 2-7) avoided an early elimination on the tournament, but will be needing to sweep their last two outings to at least barge into four wins.
A relieved Jason Webb showed up in post game, and gave credit to the effort of his guys. “All glory to the faith the guys had. As long as their is, I told the guys there are so many chances, but we failed (tournament),” the rookie mentor said.
True enough, it took until the game’s penultimate possession wherein a baffled play saw the ball in the hands of import Joel Wright, who delivered the game-winning floater with 0.7 ticks left.
Prior to the play, Meralco also had a frantic possession that led to a Reynel Hugnatan putback after a wild sequence.
“I told the guys prior to the game that we had 0.1% chance. But it’s better than nothing. We really just had to believe each other,” Webb added.
Star almost lost it once again after succumbing a 10-point cushion with four minutes to go. They let the Bolts build an 15-2 blast, including multiple three-pointers by Jimmy Alapag in the fourth quarter scare.
Fortunately, a decent 49 percent clip from the floor propelled the Hotshots to the much-needed win. In addition, they went to the line 37 times and converted 25 of it. Despite the loss, Meralco had less turnovers 12 to 18 and more rebounds, 48 to 43.
Star did not have the services of James Yap due to a hip injury incurred in their prior outing last Friday against Phoenix Petroleum.
Allen Durham had 27 points for the Bolts, with 14 rebounds and four assists as well in the loss. Chris Newsome chipped in 20.
Star will have another win-or-go-home game against the TNT (1st, 8-1) next Sunday, also at the Mall of Asia Arena. On the other hand, Meralco (5-5) faces Mahindra (T-3rd, 6-3) earlier on the same game day.
The Scores:
Star (104) – Wright 27, Simon 16, Maliksi 15, Pingris 15, Barroca 13, Mallari 7, Garcia 6, Brondial 2, Melton 2, Gaco 1, Pascual 0, Reavis 0.
Meralco (103) – Durham 27, Newsome 20, Hodge 18, Alapag 14, Hugnatan 11, Nabong 7, Amer 3, Faundo 2, Dillinger 1, Buenafe 0, Caram 0.
Quarterscores: 31-23, 50-52, 83-70, 104-103
