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Star became the first team to reach the semifinals of the PBA Governors’ Cup even when the top-seeded Meralco Bolts had an earlier game schedule—and a supposedly lighter quarterfinal opponent.
The Hotshots came back in the second half to eliminate the NLEX Road Warriors, 89-77, Tuesday night to advance to the Final Four of the season-ending conference.
The Bolts, who finished second in this tournament last season, could have gotten to the semifinals ahead after drawing an earlier game time and a quarterfinal pairing against eighth-seed Blackwater.
But Allein Maliksi came out eager to prove that the Elite made a good decision in trading for him late in the season.
Maliksi came up clutch as the Elite took down the Bolts, 92-91, to force a do-or-die in their pairing.
“Going into the final 15 seconds of the game with Meralco up by one, the instruction was to have a good shot and if there was an opening, we take it,” said Blackwater head coach Leo Isaac after the gripping showdown between seeds at the opposite end of the spectrum at Mall of Asia Arena.
“We challenged the players to face the situation. We wanted the ball to go to Walker but there was also an option for Maliksi,” Isaac said.
The ball did go to Walker, who then set Maliksi up for the game-winning jumper from the free-throw line with 9.5 seconds left.
The Hotshots did not need as tight a finish as the Elite did, putting together a strong second half to overcome an NLEX squad that was seeing action in its first playoff stint under coach Yeng Guiao.
The hard-fighting Road Warriors looked headed for a do-or-die as they stormed out of a deadlock at halftime to take a 63-55 lead in the third quarter.
But Star went on a strong run to take a 69-63 edge before stretching the lead to 10 late in the fourth period behind huge baskets by Paul Lee.
Import Kristofer Acox and Lee carried the Hotshots in the second half and finished with 21 and 18 points, respectively, for Star, which at one point in the tournament was staring at a possible seventh seed in the playoffs.
“We came from seventh spot and we were able to get No. 4 so we just took advantage of it,” said Star coach Chito Victolero.
Acox also had 12 rebounds and two steals for Star.
In contrast, NLEX started the Governors’ Cup strong and was one of the early favorites to nab a crucial twice-to-beat advantage but the fickleness of the tournament, where the closely-packed standings meant one loss could spell doom for a team’s chances, dropped the Road Warriors out of the top four.
Walker and Maliksi carried the Elite down the stretch but it took team effort in the waning seconds to pull off the defensive stop on the Bolts, whose last shot—a one-hander from just inside the 3-point line by Mike Tolomia—went off target.
“We played good defense and made the stop,” Isaac said.
The dramatic win was Blackwater’s first in the playoffs since joining the league in 2014. And it couldn’t have come at a better time with the Elite facing the formidable Bolts, who won nine games against only two losses in the elimination round.
Walker had only 11 points in the first three quarters before taking over when it mattered most. He exploded for 19 in the fourth quarter, scoring Blackwater’s first 18 points there.
The former NBA veteran, who had stints with the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Miami Heat, logged a total of 30 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, one steal and a block.
The 30-year-old Maliksi, who was acquired from Star in a four-player trade on Sept. 10, wound up with 15 points and four rebounds. Starting guard Mike DiGregorio added 20 points.
Reigning Best Import Allen Durham posted 18 points—including an inside basket that gave the Bolts a 91-90 edge with 15.8 ticks remaining—21 rebounds and seven assists while Chris Newsome and Cliff Hodge had 19 and 18 points, respectively.
Blackwater tries to become only the fourth team to knock off the No. 1 seed when it tangles with Meralco on Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.