MANILA, Philippines - Petron Blaze worked on a back-breaking 21-to-nothing run to start the final half and went on to repeat over Shopinas.com, 102-77, to catch up with Meralco at fourth place in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
The Boosters shook off a rollercoaster ride in the first half, holding the Clickers scoreless in the first seven minutes of the third quarter while scoring almost at will to pave the way for their breakaway win.
Coach Ato Agustin’s chargers actually went on a 23-to-nothing attack from the closing seconds of the first half – the third largest run in league records, next to Barangay Ginebra’s 32-0 run set in 1991 and Alaska’s 26-0 roll established in 2008.
Duplicating their 98-87 win over the same rivals on Oct. 16, the Boosters drew level with the Bolts at fourth at 5-3 (win-loss) cards.
Shopinas, meanwhile, remained winless in eight starts.
“We had a good start but we relaxed in the second quarter. I had to remind the guys at the half that we can’t take this team lightly. They responded by playing good defense, holding Shopinas scoreless in a long stretch,” said Agustin.
“We dictated the tempo and, in the end, achieved our goal of limiting them below 80 points. That’s how we won our first three games,” Agustin added.
Petron toughened up on defense from the halftime huddle, holding Shopinas to a 4-of-20 shooting and forcing the Clickers to nine turnovers.
Arwind Santos churned out his sixth double-double game in the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds and had his contribution in their third quarter onslaught that opened a 67-43 lead for the Boosters.
Jarred Dillinger fired three triples to highlight Talk n Text’s decisive 13-2 closing romp that gave the Texters a 95-86 win over Powerade and a share of the lead with Rain or Shine later in the night.
A downside for the Texters was Ryan Reyes suffering a suspected ACL tear early in the fourth quarter.
The Clickers missed all 11 field goal attempts and committed seven errors during the stretch where the Boosters made their 21-0 run.
Guards Joseph Yeo, Alex Cabagnot, Rey Guevarra and Dennis Miranda made at least 12 points each, ably filling the absence of injured prized rookie Chris Lutz.
The Boosters built an early double-digit spread at 22-9 but slackened up in the next few minutes, and the Clickers took advantage to rally to within one at 43-44.
A jumper by Cabagnot made it 46-43 for Petron at the half.
The Boosters came out hustling, running and firing in the final half and pulled away at 76-52 going to the final quarter.
There was no turning back for Petron from there.