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MANILA, Philippines – The Purefoods Star Hotshots had no problem dispatching the Barako Bull Energy, 99-83, to finish the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup elimination round with a 6-5 record on Tuesday, December 9 at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
Marc Pingris dropped 10 of his total 20 points in the payoff period to repel the Energy, who barely threatened the Hotshots with the closest margin at just 8 points, 82-74, midway in the final quarter.
PJ Simon and Joe Devance added 16 and 12 points, respectively, while Mark Barroca went 5-of-8 from the field for his 10 points to go with 3 assists.
The newly traded Mick Pennisi played against his former team for 21 minutes and had 3 points and 4 rebounds. While former Hotshot Isaac Holstein had nearly 6 minutes of playing time off the bench for 4 markers and two boards.
JC Intal topscored for Barako with 20 points and 5 rebounds while RR Garcia and Denok Miranda had 14 points apiece.
The Energy finished at 4-7 in the standings and they, too, are waiting for their quarterfinals assignment, which could be either be San Miguel or Talk ‘N Text.
Purefoods led by as much as 62-44 early in the third but Barako chipped away at the deficit to inch closer, though never really broke through the barrier. Both traded baskets in the fourth as the Hotshots finished with a 57% field goal shooting clip.
The defending Grand Slam champions will enter the quarterfinals as one of the bottom teams in the standings and will have to overcome the twice-to-beat advantage of a still to be determined opponent.
Depending on the result of the day’s last game between Meralco and Globalport, Purefoods will face either the Bolts (if they win) or Ginebra (if the Batang Pier wins).
Purefoods head coach Tim Cone expressed his disapproval of the conference’s quotient system which left his team with an inferior quotient and unable to snatch a twice-to-beat edge.
“I’ve been very vocal in the past that I think it’s a great disservice to teams to get knocked out because of quotient. I think it’s a really bad rule, it’s bad set-up. I just don’t believe that a team should lose their position because of quotient,” he lamented.
“You can’t decide the best teams because of quotient.”
Coming off their 4th straight championship at the end of last season, the Hotshots started the Philippine Cup flat and shaky, going 1-3.
They had to play catch-up towards the end of eliminations and weathered injuries to key players such as James Yap and Ian Sangalang, whom they lost for the rest of the conference due to an ACL injury.
“I’ve disliked it when it favored us and this time it disfavors us. But I just think it’s a really bad format,” Cone added.
Faced with a mountain to climb before they can be in a position to defend their title, Cone said they will take it one game at a time.
“We’ll try to win one game first and we’ll see what happens.”
Scores:
PUREFOODS (99): Pingris 20, Simon 16, Devance 12, Barroca 10, Yap 9, Taha 8, Mallari 5, Maliksi 5, Reavis 4, Gaco 4, Pennisi 3, Melton 3, Alvarez 0, Allado 0.
BARAKO (83): Intal 20, Garcia 14, Miranda 14, Lastimosa 8, Marcelo 7, Holstein 4, Salvador 4, Pascual 4, Wilson 2, Matias 1, Hubalde 0, Paredes 0.
Quarter scores: 27-23, 52-38, 75-67, 99-83.
– Rappler.com
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