NORTH WINS ALL-STAR GAME; SOUTH CLAIMS DANCEOFF PRIZE
PUERTO PRINCESA – In a night where numerous records were set, the North All-Stars reigned supreme in the 2015 PBA All-Star Game, outlasting the South All-Stars, 166-161, Sunday in front of close to 13,000 fans at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum here. (For complete boxscores, click HERE.)
Trailing by as much as 16, 113-129 late in the third quarter after a Greg Slaughter dunk, the trio of Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, and Marc Pingris willed the Northern superstars in the fourth quarter, uncorking an 18-2 blast at the start of the payoff period to take a 143-137 advantage with nine minutes left in the game.
Peter June Simon, Jimmy Alapag and Cyrus Baguio still tried to bring the South side back in the game with 39 seconds left, 165-161, but Stanley Pringle’s steal wound up in the hands of Romeo, who iced the game at the free throw line with a split
Abueva topscored for the North side with 37 points while adding 16 rebounds and seven assists while Romeo, who was adjudged as the All-Star MVP, had 15 of his 30 markers in the fourth quarter fightback, and also tallied three rebounds and an assist.
Japeth Aguilar also had 25 markers with five boards for the North All-Stars powered by an array of dunks, as Arwind Santos also chipped in 24 points with six rebounds.
The South All-Stars, didn’t leave without a win though, winning the All-Star Danceoff and the P100,000 that went with it. They got Joe Devance to thank, as he stole the spotlight with his solo twerking ad upside down jig routine.
Simon finished with 24 points for the South All-Stars, while Jeff Chan and Slaughter both ended up with 22 markers apiece.
The game featured numerous highs as the highest scoring quarter (89 points combined in the first quarter), highest scoring half (169 points combined), highest combined scores through three quarters (260 points combined), and highest combined points in an All-Star Game (327 points) were all set.
Playing in his final game as an active competitor, Alapag also got himself into the record books, besting his old record of 16 assists back in 2006 with 17 that went with 12 points and five boards.
In classic Jimmy Alapag fashion, that’s how he closed out a storied 13-year career on the night where he had his Talk ‘N Text jersey number 3 retired. (RL)
The scores:
North All-Stars 166 – Abueva 37, Romeo 30, Aguilar 25, Santos 24, Pingris 19, Norwood 8, Belga 6, Tenorio 6, Castro 5, Lee 4, De Ocampo 2, Melton 0.
South All-Stars 161 – Simon 24, Chan 22, Slaughter 22, Hugnatan 17, Devance 16, Baguio 14, Alapag 12, Pringle 11, Taulava 11, Yap 6, Barroca 6.
Quarters: 41-48, 81-88, 125-135, 166-161.
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