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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Thursday, June 8, 2017
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FOR THE BASKET. Star Hotshots guard Jio Jalalon (6) dribbles past the defense of Rain or Shine Elasto Painters during their 2017 Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinal game on Wednesday, June 7. PBA
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MANILA – Star Hotshots pulled away in the fourth to put down Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 84-69, in Game 2 of the 2017 Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-three quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
At 63-all, Hotshots went on a huge 15-3 scoring run behind import Ricardo Ratliffe and Mark Andy Barroca to build a huge 78-66 lead on free throws by Rafael Reavis.
After a three-pointer by Painters’ Gabe Norwood to cut the deficit to nine, Hotshots put on the finishing touches behind Barroca and Paul Lee to build its largest lead of 15 points.
Ratliffe finished with double-double 26 points and 24 rebounds for Hotshots, which will face its sister team San Miguel Beermen in the best-of-seven semifinals series starting this weekend.
Star also benefitted from Lee’s 13 markers and Barroca’s 12 points, 10 of which came in the final quarter.
“We know that Rain or Shine will come out harder because it is a do-or-die game for them, but we just kept our focus,” said Ratliffe, who was on his second tour of duty with Hotshots.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half before Painters picked up the tempo in the third to build an eight-point advantage.
Hotshots quickly answered back and once again turned the match to a low-scoring affair before its game-winning run in the fourth.
Reinforcement Duke Crews finished with 12 points and five rebounds, while Negrense Jeffrei Chan and Chris Tiu had nine points each for Painters./PN
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