Hotshots end 4-game skid, beat Enforcers

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Star finally ended its woes and moved one game away from a quarterfinals seat with a huge 104-96 victory over Mahindra Sunday in the 2016 Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Hopefully, kung saan man kami nanggaling, we’re back,” said coach Jason Webb, as the Hotshots snapped their four-game slide. “It’s just nice to get a victory again. It’s been a while.”

Mark Barroca sizzled with 26 points, 18 coming in the second half, to go with five rebounds and three assists while Alex Mallari got 20 markers as the duo forced huge stops in the end game to give Star its third win in nine outings.

Falling behind 94-91 in the final 2:45, the Hotshots clamped down on the defensive end with a steal from Jake Pascual leading to an easy fastbreak for Mallari. Barroca immediately followed that up with another swipe as Mallari once again scored an easy one to put Star up, 97-94 with 1:56 left in the game.

Karl Dehesa misfired on his triples as James Yap and Barroca gave the Hotshots the exclamation point in the hard fought victory.

“Defense won us that game. In a span of 20 to 30 seconds, we made stops, and we got to learn that making stops is more important,” said Webb, finally breathing a sigh of relief as Star closed in on a quarterfinals slot.

“I really felt there were a couple of games in that four game losing skid that could’ve gone our way, but with the competitive balance of this league, sometimes, if you give your best, it won’t be enough. What I tell the players is when we give our best, we have a chance to win, but if we don’t, theres no way we’re going to win.”

Yap finished with 15 points and seven boards while Peter June Simon chipped in 11 off the bench.

Aldrech Ramos’ career-high 26 points and 12 rebounds and Dehesa’s big game with 24 markers, five assists, and four boards were spoiled.

The scores:

STAR 104 – Barroca 26, Mallari 20, Yap 15, Simon 11, J. Pascual 10, Taha 6, Pingris 5, Sangalang 4, Melton 3, Cruz 2, Torres 2.

MAHINDRA 96 – Ramos 26, Dehesa 24, Pascual 11, Canaleta 8, Guinto 8,  Yee 8, Revilla 5, Digregorio 4, Hubalde 2, Alvarez 0, Pinto 0, Webb 0.

Quarters: 24-18, 46-42, 73-69, 104-96.