MANILA: Joel Wright has gone in his first four games in the PBA.
With Star games fast running out and its chances of advancing past the elimination round in the Governors’ Cup dwindling by the day, Wright took it upon himself to get a first win and keep the Hotshots in playoff contention on Sunday night.
Wright connected on a broken play running jumper with seven-tenths remaining and lifted the Hotshots to a 104-103 win over Meralco as Star fanned whatever hope it has left of marching on in the season-closing conference at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Coming in as a replacement for Marqus Blakely five games into the tournament, Wright has played his heart out each time but failed to lead the Hotshots to a victory.
This one was sweet, as the Hotshots rebounded from the loss of a nine-point lead with under six minutes to go to snap the second-longest losing streak in the conference.
“I don’t know what chances we have left, but one percent is better than nothing,” Star coach Jason Webb said after his wards rose to 2-7. “As long as the players keep believing in each other, that’s the most important thing.”
Wright finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds and the game-winner that he put up more than made up for the night-high eight turnovers that he had. Star committed just 18 errors for the game as a team.
The loss was galling for the Bolts, who would have stayed alive in the hunt for a top four berth had they won. In dropping to 5-5, Meralco practically gifted idle Mahindra and San Miguel Beer, which are at 6-3, with twice-to-beat privileges.
It was also a bitter pill to swallow for veteran Jimmy Alapag, who ushered the Bolts to a 96-92 lead with 2:22 remaining after hitting two straight three-pointers.
Alapag, the national team hero and many-time champion with Talk ‘N Text, is chasing Allan Caidic’s all-time record in three-pointers made in a career, converting on a total of four against the Hotshots to be just 15 shy of surpassing Caidic’s total of 1,242.
Allen Durham had 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Bolts, but had a critical miss from the free throw line with under 40 seconds left.
Reynel Hugnatan hit a layup with 8.2 seconds remaining that had Meralco taking a 103-102 lead, only for the Bolts to fail to stop Wright on the other end.
NLEX also stayed in the hunt for a place in the next round after rallying to frustrate Rain or Shine, 111-99, in the first game.
The Road Warriors trailed by as many as 21 points in the second period and, with their 12-point win, matched the franchise’s biggest ever turnaround and improved to 4-5, now tied with the Elasto Painters.
Rain or Shine seemed to be in complete control and even took a 75-71 lead into the fourth quarter before NLEX shot with razor-sharp precision to drop 40 points in the last period on the dumbfounded Painters.
Rookie Garvo Lanete scored 12 of his 21 points and Sena Anthony had 10 of his 12 in the final frame as the Road Warriors ran roughshod over Rain or Shine’s defense.
Rain or Shine got practically nothing from import Jason Forte and is now contemplating on another import change with just two games left in its elimination round schedule.
Forte, who arrived last Thursday to take the place of Dior Lowhorn, was played for 26 minutes by coach Yeng Guiao and contributed just seven points and six rebounds.
Guiao said that he and coaching staff will make a decision either Monday or Tuesday at the latest, even joking that they changed imports four times before winning the Commissioner’s Cup just a few months back.
“I don’t want to decide on it today because it will be an emotional decision,” Guiao said.
Henry Walker had 23 points, eight of them coming in the fourth, while Rico Villanueva tossed in 14 and Glenn Khobuntin 10 for the Road Warriors.