Star boosts top-2 push with romp of Mahindra
THE Star Hotshots padded their push for a top-two finish at the end of the PBA Philippine Cup elimination round, beating the Mahindra Floodbuster, 124-87, yesterday in the final play date of the classification phase.
With the runaway win, Star improved to 7- 4, good for solo second spot, as of press time, and still in the mix for the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals given to the top two teams with the best records at the end of the eliminations.
Already assured of the incentive are the league-leading and defending champions San Miguel Beermen (10-1).
The Hotshots were awaiting the result of the second game at the Cuneta Astrodome later yesterday between the Alaska Aces ( 6- 4) and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters ( 5- 5).
A win by the Aces would relegate the Hotshots to third spot and need to go through a best-of-three quarters series against a still-tobe-determined opponent while sending the Elasto Painters to a knockout game against the Blackwater Elite (5-6) for the eighth and final quarterfinal spot.
If Alaska loses to Rain or Shine, Star takes number two with the Aces falling to number three while the Elasto Painters qualify for the quarterfinals.
STRONG START
In beating the Floodbuster, the Hotshots banked on an explosive start, with contributions coming from all directions, and never looked back.
Star raced to a 41-19 lead at the end of the first period before extending it to a 28-point gap by halftime, 68-40.
The Floodbuster came out strong to start the third canto, outscoring the Hotshots, 13-1, to narrow their deficit to 16 points, 69-53, in the first four minutes of the quarter.
But Star would go on a 24-12 run of its own the rest of the quarter to preserve a 28- point cushion at the end of the third period, 93- 65.
Despite having control of the match, Star still continued to take the fight to Mahindra, outscoring the latter, 31-22, in the payoff quarter to cruise to the victory.
Reigning Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) player of the week Allein Maliksi led Star with 33 points, going seven-of-eight from beyond the arc, to win player of the game honors.
Paul Lee had 16 points, five assists and three rebounds while rookie Jio Jalalon had 11 points and six assists.
Aldrech Ramos, Justin Melton and Ian Sangalang were the other Hotshots who scored in double figures with 11, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Mahindra, meanwhile, was led by Nico Salva and Alex Mallari with 15 points apiece while Mark Yee finished with 14 points.
“This is a big win for us especially for our confidence and for solidifying our chances to get number two. This was what we can control and we just took care of it,” said Star coach Chito Victolero after the win.
“But regardless where we end up, I think the players are ready, physically and mentally. We worked hard to be in this spot and we have to take it as far as we can,” he added.
With the loss, Mahindra, which underwent a lot of personnel changes prior to the start of the season-opening PBA tournament, ended its Philippine Cup campaign with a 3-8 record, tied for 10th place.