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[av_heading heading=’Star routs Meralco for Comm’s Cup No. 1 spot’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Friday, May 26, 2017
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MANILA – Star Hotshots continued its hot start in the 2017 Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup after a 108-90 win over Meralco Bolts at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Ricardo Ratliffe led the way with double-double 32 points and 13 rebounds for the Hotshots, which moved up to solo first place in the standings with an 8-2 win-loss slate even without injured center Marc Pingris.
Paul Lee chipped in with 16 points, while Mark Andy Barroca, Allein Maliksi and rookie Jiovani Jalalon had 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Star.
Trailing 9-3 early in the game Wednesday night, the Hotshots unloaded a huge 20-2 scoring run behind Ratliffe and Peter June Simon to take a 23-11 lead, which later grew to 30-15 on a triple by Maliksi.
The Bolts made its move in the second frame, trimming the deficit to 10 points, but the Hotshots was quick to respond behind Barroca and Lee to extend the lead to 54-40.
Meralco continued to make its presence felt in the second half by cutting the deficit to single digits several times, but Star maintained an 81-75 lead heading into the fourth.
In the final frame, the Hotshots took advantage of Bolts import Alex Stepheson’s early exit to pull away with its largest lead of the match at 98-77 on hits by Ratliffe, Maliksi and Barroca.
Chris Newsome top-scored with 25 points, while Kelly Nabong and Jared Dillinger added 17 and 15 points, respectively, for the Bolts, which tasted its second straight loss to slide down to a 7-3 win-loss slate./PN
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SCORES
STAR 108 – Ratliffe 32, Lee 16, Barroca 12, Maliksi 11, Jalalon 10, Sangalang 8, Simon 7, Reavis 3, Brondial 3, Melton 2, Ramos 2, Abundo 2, Dela Rosa 0, Javier 0
MERALCO 90 – Newsome 25, Nabong 17, Dillinger 15, Stepheson 9, Caram 9, Hodge 5, Amer 4, Chua 2, Hugnatan 2, Daquioag 2, Uyloan 0, Lanete 0, Faundo 0
QUARTERS – 27-15, 54-45, 81-75, 108-90
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