Star retains top spot after thumping of Meralco

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Star took sole possession of the first seed after clobbering Meralco, 108-90, in a matchup of league leaders in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Hotshots remained the owner of the top spot with an 8-2 card while the Bolts careened to third place with a 7-3 record, tied with TnT, behind San Miguel and Ginebra that both have 6-2 slates.

Star, known as the best defensive team in the conference holding down opponents to 84.1 points a game, proved once more its acumen when it prevented the Bolts from scoring for more than seven minutes into the fourth.

A 13-0 run opened up the period for the Hotshots with Jio Jalalon capping it off with a couple of free throws with 5:15 left to give Star a 94-75 lead.

Kelly Nabong was the first Bolt to score in the final quarter with a jumper at the 5:02 mark to stop the bleeding, 94-77, but it hardly mattered at the Hotshots were already in full control.

Star head coach Chito Victolero knew their matchup against Meralco would boil down to defense since the Bolts are the second-best defensive team allowing just 87 points a game.

“Proper mindset and mental toughness is very important, and we talked about that we are the no.1 in defense and they’re the no.2 team,” said Victolero. “I’m very happy with the result, we played 48 minutes of Star Hotshots basketball with proper defense and we did a good hob on [Alexander] Stepheson.”

Meralco’s import managed just nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and turned the ball over six times.

Ricardo Ratliffe led the Hotshots with 32 points, 13 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks while Paul Lee added 16 points.

Chris Newsome filled the stat sheets for Meralco as he put up 25 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists.