The Master Game Face All-Star Basketball Challenge was FUN!

The Master Game Face All-Star Basketball Challenge was fun

by rick olivares

The cool thing about the first ever Master Game Face All-Star Basketball Challenge (the All-Star Game of the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup), is that the players made a game of it and it wasn’t some lopsided blowout.

Team Borgie Hermida won 89-88 over Team Chris Tiu with the winning points coming off a Ray Parks layup with 42 seconds left.

Team Chris had a chance to win the game on the final possession but Jean Mbe blocked Karim Abdul and Kiefer Ravena missed his desperation three-point attempt from the deep left corner.

When the game started, both teams sized each other up in the first few minutes then when the second units got in – BAM! It got serious.

Here are some highlights:

Chris ‘Awesome’ Newsome was ahem… awesome. He dunked, scored eight points on 4-4 shooting, grabbed two rebounds and dished for two assists. He had zero turnovers as well. He should have gotten more playing time.

Kevin Ferrer was darn good. He scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting. Felt he should have been on the floor for the final play.

But I have to credit Chris Tiu, he really played all his players. Borgie, sat his players and went with a certain rotation at the fourth period as they too wanted to win the game (that came with a cash incentive).

The NU Bulldogs’ duo of Parks and Mbe were awesome. That they both had an effect on the game’s outcome on both ends of the court shows how focused and motivated they are this season. The following day, they won the Fr. Martin’s Cup. Impressive.

RR Garcia’s phenomenal shooting. This was like watching him in UAAP Season 72 when he won the MVP Award. He top scored with 22 points on 9-16 shooting. Garcia also had five rebounds and one assist.

There were also some contentious plays.

Kevin Ferrer and Ray Parks were matched up against each other and if you recall how the former was very physical against the latter in last year’s UAAP campaign, you know that there’s some bad blood here. They were very physical against each other. Pushing, shoving, and a little tug here and there. No handshakes after the final buzzer.

The two FEU Tamaraws roughed up Jerie Pingoy. Shades of BJ Manalo. Or Nico Elorde.

RR Garcia went hard against Jerie Pingoy. In one sequence, Garcia drove hard but Pingoy blocked him! The King Tamaraw responded by taking in strong again this time with success.

The Garcia threw an elbow at Pingoy and the former Juniors MVP retaliated. It got worse when Pingoy matched up with Mike Tolomia.

I was surprised to see Tolomia play rather viciously against Pingoy. The latter retaliated while fighting through one pick but Tolomia tried to get back at him with an elbow.

At one point, Pingoy threw his arms up at Tolomia. Pingoy’s new teammate Juami Tiongson went to the floor but Tolomia got pulled out by Borgie Hermida.

Didn’t get a chance to see the Teng brothers really show what they can do. Jeron didn’t shoot well while Jeric didn’t mesh well with his other teammates on the floor.

But this was fun. I love all-star games whatever sport they may be. And while some players were not at their best, they gave it their best.

Scores:

Team Borgie 89 – Garcia 22, Parks 14, Mbe 9, Tolomia 9, Dela Rosa 8, Semerad D. 6, Pinto 4, Paras 4, Jamon 4, Amer 3, Adeogun 2, Pascual 2, Asilum 2, Marata 0, Neypes 0.

Team Chris 88 – Ferrer 12, Cabrera 9, Torres 8, Newsome 8, Teng Jeron 7, Pingoy 7, Ravena 6, Mariano 5, Cruz Mark 5, Almazan 4, Tiongson 3, Perkins 3, Van Opstal 3, Teng Jeric 2, Abdul 2, Cruz Jericho 2, Sumang 2, Montalbo 0.

Quarter scores: 21-22, 43-50, 66-70, 89-88

Stats: 3 deadlocks and 5 lead changes

It was good to be a part of this. The second event I have been deeply involved (conceptualization and planning) with Unilever and Bridges. Thank you so much to the good folks there! Now on to the second Clear Dream Match!