Clayton Kenty and Marvin Rabauliman worked together to pace with the Saints who managed to pick up during the decisive part of the final half.
The Saints had a lot of missed shots losing several chances to widen the gap in the middle of the second half.
At this juncture, G-Stars caught up as Rabauliman sizzled with 11 points and Kenty added four of his six points in the game. Rabauliman finished with a total of 13 points.
Earlier in the first half, JR Concepcion and Dan Mateo established a strong lead against the Saints but Brandon Aulerio and Leo Galayse’s three-pointers tied the game (17-17).
Aulerio fired another shot from behind the arc and Zack Tudela picked up fouls then, basketed his three free throws lifting the Saints past the G-Stars in the middle of the first half.
The Saints put up a man-to-man defense beginning in the back court leading to a series of three turn overs to stretch their lead.
Tudela and Galayse protected the lead with fast breaks.
In the final few minutes of the final half however, the Saints main scorers found themselves doing acrobatic shots that wasted many opportunities to keep the upper ground.
The G-Stars’ defensive rebounds were completed and the Saints were nailed to 49 points all the way to the final buzzer.
Scores:
G-Stars 54 – M. Rabauliman 13, Christian 10, J. Concepcion 9, C. Kenty 6, D. Mateo 4, N.Mateo 4, J. Crisostomo 2.Luis Bwun 2, N. Chan 2.
Saints 49 – B. Aulerio 18, Z. Tudela 12, L. Galayse 10, T. Pangelinan 3, L. Reyes 2. P. Torres 2.
Halfscores: 27-29, 54-49.
