Marc Pingris of Purefoods Star Hotshoot (dark) vs Dave Marcelo of Barako Bull Energy (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines — Purefoods Star rode on its rugged big man Marc Pingris late to fend off pesky Barako Bull, 99-83, in the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup Tuesday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
Pingris scored half of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for the Hotshots, who could end up facing the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings as early as the quarterfinals.
“We gotta take whatever we have whether it be Ginebra or Meralco and try to win one game first and let’s see what happens,” said Purefoods head coach Tim Cone, who expressed displeasure with the league’s quotient system format.
Purefoods lost big to Ginebra early in the conference while the Hotshots beat the Bolts in their lone meeting in the elimination round.
Purefoods wound up the elimination round with the same record as Ginebra at 6-5. But due to inferior quotient, the Kings will have twice-to-beat advantage in case the two most popular teams in the league end up playing each other in the quarterfinals.
The Hotshots, who shot 57% from the field and had 28 assists and just 14 turnovers, led by 18 but had to bank on Pingris’ inside plays to keep the Energy at bay.
Pingris was unstoppable in the post especially with the Energy opting to go single coverage on the veteran forward-center.
A win by Globalport over Meralco later will set up that showdown while a victory by the Bolts will give them a twice-to-beat edge over the Hotshots.
PJ Simon added 16 points while Joe Devance had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Hotshots.
JC Intal scored 20 points for Barako Bull, which heads into the quarters as the No. 9 seed and will face either San Miguel Beer or Talk ‘N Text.
PJ Simon of Purefoods Star Hotshoot (dark) vs RR Garcia of Barako Bull Energy (light). PBA IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
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