ILOILO, Philippines –Team Japeth put the shackles on Team Scottie late to hack out a nail-biting 140-136 win in the PBA All-Star Game at the City of Passi Arena on Sunday, March 12.

Squandering a double-digit lead, Team Japeth leaned on clutch buckets from Roger Pogoy and Jamie Malonzo before it prevented Team Scottie from forcing a draw to preserve the early efforts of Paul Lee, who took home MVP honors.

Lee erupted for 32 points on top of 7 rebounds and 6 assists as he showed the way for Team Japeth in the first three quarters, cashing in on 7 of his 13 attempts from four-point range, a gimmick by the PBA for this edition of the mid-season festivities.

But with Lee limited in the fourth quarter, Team Japeth banked on Malonzo and Pogoy down the stretch as they both finished with 20 points.

Malonzo drained a trey that gave Team Japeth the upper hand at 129-127, while Pogoy pushed their lead to 133-127 by firing 4 straight points with two minutes remaining.

After Team Scottie guard CJ Perez narrowed the gap to 136-138, Malonzo coolly sank his free throws for the final tally as Team Japeth held on to the win with a couple of key defensive stops.

On the verge of settling for a draw, Team Japeth forced Perez and Scottie Thompson to miss their game-tying four-pointers inside the final 14 seconds to emerge triumphant.

Calvin Oftana and Chris Newsome chalked up 16 points each for Team Japeth, which bagged the top purse of P150,000.

Mentored by Tim Cone, Team Japeth pocketed a total of P300,000 for also topping the dance contest that dangled P150,000 to the winner.

The Scores

Team Japeth 140 – Lee 32, Malonzo 20, Pogoy 20, Oftana 16, Newsome 16, Santos 8, Jalalon 8, Mamuyac 7, Pinto 6, Almazan 4, Gray 3, Cabagnot 0.

Team Scottie 136 – Alas 35, Perez 26, Standhardinger 22, Abueva 15, Bolick 14, Tolentino 7, Barroca 7, Pringle 4, Castro 4, Yap 2, Thompson 0, Lassiter 0.

Quarters: 37-28, 74-65, 100-104, 140-136. – Rappler.com