Star Hotshots: A Win Away From Finals Appearance After a Two Game Losing Streak

Photo by PBA Media Bureau

The Star Hotshots bounces back from their two game losing streak after defeating the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in game 5. March Pingris who said that Star Shotshos will be back strong after their two defeats lived up to his promise despite getting limited minutes due to foul trouble. Stepping up in the absence of the "Pinoy Sakuragi" is their main center Rafi Reavis who took over the rebounding and scoring department along side Allein Maliksi who was the missing link in their two losses. 

Barangay Ginebra rallied during the second half of the ball game after being down with as much as 16 points in the payoff period but the Star Hotshots' defense is just good enough to limit the scorers of the league's most popular ball club. 

Caguioa and the rest of Ginebra's bench role players continued to play catch up during the last 2 minutes of the game chopping the Hotshots' lead to 7 points from 16. This rally has woken up the Ginebra Faithfuls as the fast and the furious showcased their never say die run once again but couldn't sustain the intensity with limited time on the clock. After benching his starters, Tim Cone has made a decision to carry on with his bench players to finish the game who did a great job in cutting the lead during the dying seconds of the 4th quarter. 

Rafi Reavis who was hailed as the best player of the game recorded a double-double performance with 17 points and 13 boards. 

The scores: STAR 89 - Reavis 17, Barroca 12, Lee 10, Maliksi 10, Simon 8, Brondial 8, Melton 7, Pingris 6, Sangalang 5, Jalalon 2, Ramos 2, Dela Rosa 2. 

GINEBRA 80 - Aguilar 13, Mercado 9, Ellis 9, Caguioa 9, Helterbrand 6, Cruz 6, Taha 5, Thompson 5, Tenorio 5, Ferrer 4, Mariano 4, Marcelo 3, Devance 2. 

Quarterscores: 21-22, 49-45, 71-55, 89-80