By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — Paul Lee once again sparkled for the Star Hotshots, reprising his Game 1 heroics to lead his team to a second straight victory over the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 91-89, Saturday night in Game 2 of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series.
It was the Hotshots’ eighth straight win in the conference, moving them two wins away from grabbing a finals slot.
Thriving in pressure-packed moments, Lee scored six of his team’s last 10 points in the final seven minutes of the game as the Hotshots take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 3 set on Monday night. Lee finished with a team-high 17 points and four rebounds in 34 minutes.
Star also got solid contributions from Marc Pingris who finished with 10 points, eight boards and five assists. Justin Melton added 11 markers and five boards while Allein Maliksi chipped in 14 points.
With the score tied at 85-all after Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar scored on a putback with 2:26 remaining, Star countered with a floater from rookie Jio Jalalon and then a fastbreak layup from Lee.
A basket from Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson cut Star’s lead to 89-87, time down to 36 seconds.
Lee missed a jump shot in the ensuing play, but veteran center Rafi Reavis managed to grab the offensive board and got sent to the charity stripe. Reavis cooly sank both free throws to restore Star’s lead to four, 91-87, with 7.3 ticks left, virtually sealing the Hotshots’ victory.
Ginebra’s Kevin Ferrer scored on a putback, but it was not enough to change the outcome of the game as the final buzzer sounded.
The loss spoiled Ferrer’s best showing in the conference so far as the Ginebra rookie finished with a career-high and team-high 25 points, including five three-pointers.
Thompson had another splendid all-around game, posting a double-double 17 points and 10 rebounds plus six assists. Aguilar also had a double-double of 16 markers and 15 boards on top of four assists, all for nothing.
Game Sunday: San Miguel Beermen vs. TNT KaTropa Texters (Game 3, best-of-7 semifinals; series ties 1-1).
