2024 all stars: a stalemate
BACOLOD CITY – They promised a high-intensity, competitive PBA All Star Game.
Team Japeth and Team Mark more than delivered, fighting so hard that they wound up in a 140-140 stalemate after 48 minutes of end-to-end action.
While the two sides settled for a sharing of the spoils, it was the fans at the fully-packed University of St. La Salle Gym that really won this mid-season spectacle.
Team Japeth’s wide array of shooters put up a show from the get-go, with Jamie Malonzo and RR Pogoy knocking down bombs from the three-point and four-point lines to create an early 46-20 separation.
It was looking very much like a blowout, especially when Japeth Aguilar ’s squad seized a 31-point lead in the initial skirmishes of the second.
But then CJ Perez started hitting his longdistance shots to get Team Mark to within a manageable 79-68 count at the break. Perez’ 28-point outburst in the second period was a new all-time PBA All Star record in scoring in a quarter, surpassing the 20 Arwind Santos netted in 2019 in Calasiao.
Perez provided the spark for the Mark Barroca-captained team’s searing fightbacks from Team Japeth’s repeated attempts to pull away.
Just when everyone thought the game was done for with Team Japeth up, 140-129, with 1:42 left, Robert Bolick suddenly came to life for Team Mark.
After a pair of free throws from Barroca pushed them to within nine, Bolick got them even closer on a booming four-pointer with still 34 seconds left.
A series of empty plays led to Bolick getting the chance to launch another four-pointer that he converted with a foul to boot from Calvin Oftana. The NLEX star calmly converted the charity to tie it all up.
Oftana missed his attempt at a game winner inside then Bolick tried to get it done with a Hail Mary that missed the mark at the buzzer. The scores: Team Japeth 140 – Pogoy 25, Lassiter 24, Aguilar 21, Malonzo 17, Tolentino 13, Romeo 11, Lee 9, Newsome 7, Oftana 7, Trollano 2, Pringle 2, Dionisio 2, Ahanmisi 0
Team Mark 140 – Perez 39, Barroca 20, Abueva 18, Fajardo 17, Rivero 15, Bolick 13, Perkins 9, Tiongson 3, Jalalon 2, Hodge 2, Sangalang 2, Norwood 0, Castro 0, Yap 0, Pinto 0
Quarterscores: 46-20, 79-68, 111-104, 140-140