Mindanao stars humble Nationals
Game tomorrow (Batangas City) 7 p.m. – Smart Team Phl vs Luzon All Stars
DIGOS CITY – After fighting Gilas Pilipinas to a tie in Cagayan de Oro last year, the PBA Mindanao All Stars pulled off a more memorable feat here last night in humbling the Nationals, 144-130, in the Mindanao leg of the 2018 PBA All Stars at the Davao del Sur Sports Center.
Coach Tim Cone’s guard-heavy squad used quickness and torrid shooting as they cut down June Mar Fajardo and his teammates to size in this game presented by Phoenix Fuel with Phoenix Pulse Technology.
Meralco guard Baser Amer, a pride of Davao City, scored 13 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and also came through with seven points and the same number of rebounds to win the All-Star MVP honors.
Amer teamed up with Carlo Lastimosa, Sonny Thoss, Jio Jalalon and Cyrus Baguio in a lethal 18-to-nothing run at the start of the fourth as the Mindanao All Stars zoomed away and held on to complete the shocker.
Mark Barroca, PJ Simon, Mac Belo and RR Garcia had their finest moments early on for the Mindanaoans who overcame the huge 59-point combined outputs of Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar.
Barroca piled up 20 points, seven assists, six assists and three steals while Simon, Belo, Lastimosa, Garcia, Jalalon and Baguio chipped in at least 11 points each.
In the end, Amer did most of the damage with his 13-point fourth-quarter splurge.
Amer, Lastimosa and Thoss strung up four three-pointers to highlight their fourth quarter breakaway.
Before the Mindanaoans zoomed to a 21-point lead, neither team led by more than seven.
Earlier, Terrence Romeo put another feather on his PBA All-Star cap as, in a team-up with presidential son-in-law Mans Carpio, they ruled the Legends Three-Point Shootout.
Romeo fired 24 points while Carpio contributed nine for their winning effort in the special three-point shooting competition where they went up against the tandems of Kenneth Duremdes and Gen. Santos City Rep. Bobby Pacquiao, Allan Caidic and Special Assistant to the President Bong Go, and Thompson and Major Michael Sabsal.
The Duremdes-Pacquiao pair scored 27 points, the Caidic-Go duo tallied 22 while Thompson and Sabsal combined for 18.
A last-minute replacement to PJ Simon, Romeo showed the very form he dished out in winning the regular All-Star three-point shootouts in 2015 and 2016.
He also bagged the MVP awards in the All-Star Games in 2015 and 2017 (Visayas leg).
The scores: PBA Mindanao 144 – Amer 22, Barroca 20, Simon 17, Lastimosa 16, Garcia 13, Belo 13, Jalalon 12, Baguio 11, Erram 9, Thoss 5, Thompson 4, Reavis 2.
Smart All Stars 130 – Fajardo 34, Aguilar 25, Romeo 16, Castro 16, Ravena 15, Abueva 10, Wright 9, Norwood 3, Maliksi 2.
Quarterscores: 32-28, 65-63, 104-99, 144-130