If there was ever any doubt about Terrence Romeo’s skill as a scorer then those have all been erased after his stellar performance during the second leg of the 2018 PBA All-Star Week at the Batangas City Sports Center.
Romeo was unstoppable and scored from all angles to power the Smart All-Stars to a pulsating 152-149 victory over the Luzon All-Stars.
The TNT KaTropa star was virtually on fire in the first half as he scored 26 of his 48 points in the first two quarters. It seemed the national team, like Romeo, couldn’t miss from the field as they converted 60 percent of their attempts.
Romeo dribbled effortlessly around Luzon defenders to amaze the crowd with his offensive repertoire highlighted by back-to-back triples as Gilas took control of the game, 140-125, with 5:55 to go.
Luzon mounted repeated rallies late in the game and cut the deficit to just four, 148-138 after back-to-back triples by Arwind Santos in the last 1:22.
June Mar Fajardo quashed that rally by scoring five straight points which gave his side a 152-144 advantage.
Luzon tried one last uprising cutting the gap to just three behind Santos and Calvin Abueva. They cut the gap to just three points with seven seconds left following a Santos three-pointer.
But LA Tenorio missed the potential game-tying triple in the waning seconds which allowed the Smart All-Stars to level the series to one game apiece.
The third leg, in this series presented by Phoenix Fuel with Phoenix Pulse Technology, is slated in Iloilo today.
Romeo was named the All-Star Game MVP. He went 7-of-16 from distance. He was the complete package as he also had nine assists and five rebounds.
Fajardo scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Troy Rosario had 20 points to go with nine boards, while Roger Pogoy had 17 markers.
Jio Jalalon was outstanding as he recorded only the second triple-double in All-Star Game history with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Willie Miller was the first to do the feat in 2007.
Coach Yeng Guiao had to shorten his rotation after his eight-man squad went down to just seven. Allein Maliksi suffered an apparent ankle sprain early in the game.
“Nagtrabaho naman ang mga bata kahit na pagod na pagod sila, hindi nawala ang aggressiveness nila and gusto rin nilang mapasaya ang mga tao,” said Guiao.
Japeth Aguilar was equally prolific as led Luzon All-stars with 41 points and 12 rebounds. Abueva and Santos both had 23.