Miller-Mercado connection gives PBA Greats a come-from-behind win

Barako Bull Energy Willie Miller and Meralco Bolt Sol Mercado scored 12 of the PBA Greats' last 16 points, as the white shirts defeated the PBA Stalwarts 143-139, in the capper of Friday's festivities at the PBA All-Star Weekend, in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte. Trailing by eight at the start of the fourth quarter, two Stalwarts, past and present Powerade Tigers Kenneth Duremdes and Sean Anthony, connected multiple times to extend their lead from 112-104 to 126-113. The Greats responded with nine unanswered as Jojo Lastimosa capped a furious rally with a breakaway lay-up to make it a four-point game, 126-122, 5:35 left. In response, Duremdes connected from downtown, and Taulava tipped back in a miss to make it eight points, 130-122. The Stalwarts seemed poised to win after yet another long bomb by Duremdes plus one from Mac Cardona, sandwiched a Greats triple by KG Canaleta, making it 136-127, and forcing the Ato Agustin-coached side to call timeout, 3:48 remaining. But whatever the Petron Blaze Boosters mentor said during the quick break fired his side up, as Mercado and Miller unleashed a 6-0 burst. Another Taulava outback at the 2:51 mark turned out to be the last Stalwarts field goal, as another Greats run produced eight unanswered. Off a Stalwarts timeout, Taulava drew a foul from Danny Seigle and came up with a split to pull within two points, 141-139. A broken play led to the Greats engineering a set with five seconds left on the clock, 41.9 seconds left, and two-time MVP Willie Miller provided the dagger, pulling up to beat the shot clock, to arrive at the final score. Miller tallied 29 points in 30 minutes on 13-of-17 shooting, and also added 11 rebounds and six assists. Mercado finished with 19 points, five boards, two dimes and two swats, both on his Meralco teammate Asi Taulava. Early on, after the first quarter, the Greats actually managed a 12-point advantage of a Joseph Yeo triple, 49-37, but Johnny Abarrientos turned back the hands of time to engineer a reversal of fortunes for the Stalwarts, as his pinpoint passing, coupled with a barrage of Allan Caidic triples gave them a one-point lead at the half, 75-74. Then in the third period, it was time for Rain or Shine Elasto Painter Jeff Chan to catch fire, as he was responsible for 13 straight Stalwarts points. Mac Cardona then pushed the Stalwarts even further, making it 112-103 before a late charity tabbed the third quarter score at 112-104, Stalwarts up. Player-coach Ato Agustin was adjudged as having the best performance, finishing with 19 points and a 5-of-7 clip from long-distance, but other PBA legends similarly put up amazing numbers. Duremdes finished with a mighty 29 points, while Johnny A posted a triple-double of 10 points, 10 boards, and 15 dimes. Olsen Racela dished out 12 assists as well. The PBA All-Star Weekend action resumes on Sunday, starting with the dunk competition at 4pm, before the Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors versus Veterans game at 6pm. - Adrian Dy, GMA News

The scores:

Greats 143 – Miller 29, Canaleta 21, Seigle 20, Mercado 19, Agustin 19, Cortez 10, Yeo 8, Lastimosa 7, Racela 6, Patrimonio 4. Stalwarts 139 – Duremdes 29, Chan 18, Cardona 17, Taulava 16, Caidic 15, Simon 14, Baguio 11, Abarrientos 10, Isaac 0.

Quarter scoring: 33-29; 74-75; 104-112; 143-139.