Star completes quarters sweep of GlobalPort
By Ivan Stewart Saldajeno
Quezon City–Fifth-seeded Star officially knocked off fourth-seeded GlobalPort from the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal contention with a 101-94 win in their rubber match at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday night.
But unlike their previous meeting on Friday where the Hotshots easily raced to a 61-point cushion en route to a 53-point rout, the Batang Pier somehow found a way to get back from a huge hole.
Star went ahead by as much as 20, 45-25, late in the second quarter as P.J. Simon led the team’s charge in the period.
But GlobalPort slowly crawled back as Jarrid Famous and Stan Pringle led their clubs own rally to take a 65-64 advantage late in the third.
Joe Devance led the Hotshots’ third period-ending 6-0 run to give them a 70-65 edge, but the Batang Pier opened the fourth with their own six-point mini-rally to retake the lead, 71-70.
Back-to-back field goals pushed Star to the driver set anew, 74-71, only to be cancelled by a Terrence Romeo’s equalizing triple.
But Alex Mallari ignited the game-turning 18-5 rally by the Hotshots by making four straight markers while capping it with a dagger triple to give them a 92-79 cushion with about two minutes left and never looked back.
Marqus Blakely tallied a triple-double with 15 points, 16 rebounds, and 11 assists along with four steals and three blocks for Star, which overcame a twice-to-beat disadvantage and will take on early semifinalist Alaska in a best-of-five series. Mallari had a double-double of his own with 17 markers and 13 boards.
Famous played the entire game and finished with 38 points, 21 rebounds, two blocks, and one steal.
Box Scores:
Star 101-Mallari 17, Yap 17, Blakely 15, Simon 14, Devance 13, Taha 8, Barroca 6, Pingris 6, Melton 5, Pennisi 0
GlobalPort 94-Famous 38, Pringle 16, Romeo 15, Krayem 9, Jensen 7, Buenafe 6, Kramer 3, Semerad 0, Miranda 0
Quarterscores: 21-16, 49-40, 70-65, 101-94
