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LUCENA – With the young stars showing their feistiness, Gilas Pilipinas pulled off a stunning comeback victory, 122-111, over the fancied Luzon All-Stars Friday in the 2017 PBA All-Star at Quezon Convention Center here.
The Nationals rose back from the dead and finished the game on a 17-0 windup to battle back from a 111-105 deficit with 4:46 to play.
“Grabe yung kalaban namin, but I told them this is what our program is all about: fighting back no matter how strong our foes are,” said coach Chot Reyes.
Jonathan Grey topped Gilas with 19 points on an 8-of-11 shooting clip, to go with three rebounds, while Mike Tolomia had 15 markers and five assists.
Cloudfone MVP Matthew Wright also got 15 points and seven assists, while Carl Bryan Cruz tallied 13 markers and seven boards.
The PBA All-Stars’ sheer talent showed in the second half, with Jayson Castro-to-Japeth Aguilar’s alley-oop giving them an 86-69 lead midway in the third quarter.
Back-to-back treys from Norbert Torres cut the deficit for Gilas to just three, 94-91, but Alex Cabagnot was quick to douse on that run and bring the PBA stars back up, 102-93.
Stanley Pringle’s and-one play with less than five minutes remaining put Luzon back up, 111-105, but that proved to be the last gasp for the Northerners as they were held scoreless up until the final buzzer.
Japeth Aguilar led the Luzon All-Stars with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Calvin Abueva added 16 markers, and Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter both registered 12 in the loss.
The decisive result was far from the 114-all stalemate between Gilas and the Mindanao selection in Cagayan de Oro.
However, the pair of games were enough for coach Chot Reyes to finally draw his roster for the upcoming 2017 Seaba Championships in May.
Gilas will now take its talents to Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu to complete the three-leg All-Star extravaganza on Sunday, this time against the Visayas All-Stars.
The Scores:
GILAS PILIPINAS 13, Rosario 12, Almazan 10, Revilla 9, Maliksi 9, Ferrer 8, Torres 8, Guinto 2, Vosotros 2, Gotladera 0, Daquioag 0.
LUZON ALL-STARS 111 – Aguilar 18, Abueva 16, Pringle 15, Cabagnot 12, Lassiter 12, Washington 9, De Ocampo 9, Santos 8, Lee 5, Tenorio 3, Caguioa 2, Castro 2.
Quarters: 30-34, 55-62, 85-94, 122-111.