RISING STAR

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STAR never let up from a hot start to handily beat Barako Bull, 117-89,Sunday as the defending champion stayed on track for a coveted slot in the PBA Governors Cup quarterfinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Marqus Blakely‘s conference-high 33 points which came with eight rebounds led a balanced offense which saw four other Hotshots score at least 10 points each and largely made possible their fifth win against as many losses, good for seventh-running spot but likely good enough for a quarterfinals berth.

Another Star victory over cellar-dweller Blackwater, coupled by a loss by GlobalPort against Alaska also Tuesday, ties the Hotshots with the Batang Pier and the Energy for fourth at 6-5, a deadlock that would be resolved by the PBA quotient and a posssible twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals for the Hotshots.

That is main reason why his team really stepped on the pedal against Barako Bull, which was handled by his former assistant Koy Banal, according to Star head coach Tim Cone.

“It was tough out there having to pour it on against coach Koy, but there was too much at stake for us,” explained Cone. “But we have to keep that opportunity to move forward and not take anything for granted.”

The loss was Barako Bull’s fourth straight after an all-time franchise-best 6-1 start. It could still make it among the top four, but that hinges on Blackwater pulling off a man-sized upset over Star.

Liam McMorrow finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds , but did not really get going against what Cone termed as the “great job” done on him by Star big men Mick Pennisi, Yousif Taha and Rafi Reavis.

“We’ve studied him and he really impressed us so we really prepared for him,” related Cone.
JC Intal added 14 points and Nico Salva and Dylan Ababou came off the bench for 11 markers apiece, but Joseph Yeo, usually good for 15 points, went scoreless after attempting just four times from the field.

Even if the other Energy starters hit their stride, it is doubtful if they could have made much difference in a game where the Hotshots raced to an 8-0 lead, stretched the difference to 21 at the half and posted as much as a 104-70 spread, 7:11 to go in the game.

James Yap, averaging just 6.0 points in Star’s last three games, scored 17 points, PJ Simon added 15, Alex Mallari 11 and Allein Maliksi 10 as the Hotshots went 45-for-91, from the field, including 16-for-36 from beyond the arc.

Star also romped off with a 51-35 rebounding advantage from which it garnered a 24-5 scoring in second chance points.

“Good all-around performance for us,” noted Cone. “It’s what we’ve been looking for and missing this whole conference. Now we’re picking the right time to hit our stride. I just hope we could carry it over to the Blackwater game and into the quarterfinals.” (NC)

The scores:

STAR 117 – Blakely 33, Yap 17, Simon 15, Mallari 11, Maliksi 10, Barroca 8, Pingris 6, Devance 6, Pennisi 6, Melton 3, Taha 2, Reavis 0, Gaco 0.

BARAKO BULL 89 – McMorrow 23, Intal 14, Salva 11, Ababou 11, Lanete 9, Hubalde 7, Pascual 4, Wilson 4, Garcia 2, Chua 2, Sorongon 2, Forrester 0, Yeo 0, Salvador 0.

Quarterscores: 34-20, 58-37, 86-62, 117-89

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