Hotshots lose fourth-quarter lead, depose Beermen in OT

By Josh Castro

QUEZON CITY--Purefoods squandered a huge fourth-quarter edge but held on to a 113-105 overtime win against San Miguel in the nightcap of the PBA Commissioner's Cup Sunday doubleheader at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Hotshots led, 83-66, with 10:25 left in the regulation period, but the Beermen came back and tied the match, 95-all, with two minutes remaining.

Alex Mallari split his free throws to give Purefoods the lead again, but Junemar Fajardo answered with a charity of his own to equalize anew.

Mark Barroca made a reverse layup with 58 seconds left for the Hotshots to go up, 98-96.

AZ Reid, however, answered with a jumper, and the game was knotted once again at 98-all. Both teams failed to win the game in the dying moments of the regulation.

Reid and Denzel Bowles exchanged baskets to start the overtime session. Chris Lutz and James Yap also traded three-pointers in the next plays.

Reid and Yap then made their turn in answering each other's shots. Yap's conversion, however, became crucial as it sparked the game-turning 10-0 Hotshots run to take the win.

Bowles led Purefoods with 35 points, while Mallari added 17.

Reid, on the other hand, scored 23 markers, and Marcio Lassiter had 21 for San Miguel.

Box Scores:

Purefoods 113 - Bowles 35, Mallari 17, Pingris 15, Yap 15, Simon 9, Barroca 9, Devance 6, Maliksi 4, Taha 3, Melton 0, Reavis 0, Pennisi 0

San Miguel 105 - Reid 23, Lassiter 21, Ross 15, Fajardo 14, Lutz 11, Kramer 8, Cabagnot 7, Santos 3, Reyes 2, Semerad 1, Tubid 0

Quarterscores: 15-22, 42-39, 76-66, 98-98, 113-105