Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — Lightly regarded Meralco Bolts forward Rey Guevarra stole the thunder at the start of the PBA All-Star Weekend Friday, ruling the PBA slam dunk contest, together with San Mig Coffee dynamo Justin Melton, and then leading Team Greats to a 136-all draw over Team Legends in an exhibition game capping the day's festivities at the Mall of Asia Arena. Guevarra scored 34 points for the Greats, dazzling the fans with a flurry of highlight-reel dunks. The Greats and the Legends comprised of notable former and current PBA players. Aside from Guevara, the Greats included Air 21 coach Franz Pumaren, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel assistant Freddie Abuda, GlobalPort assistant Johnedel Cardel, Alaska assistant coach Topex Robinson, Cliff Hodge of Meralco, Willie Miller of Barako Bull, and Jonas Villanueva of Air 21. They were coached by 1979 PBA Most Valuable Player Atoy Co. The Legends comprised of Alaska executive Dickie Bachmann, San Mig Coffee assistant coach Richard del Rosario, Ginebra legend Noli Locsin, Chris Tiu of Rain or Shine, Sol Mercado of San Miguel Beer, Mac Cardona of Air 21, John Wilson of Meralco, Ronjay Buenafe of Barako Bull, and Melton. Coaching them was three-time MVP Bogs Adornado. The Greats appeared all set to claim victory after a Guevarra jumper gave them a 124-113 edge. But the Legends unleashed a ferocious run in the endgame capped by a three-pointer from Buenafe that tied the exhibition game at 136-136 with 19.6 seconds left. The Greats had one last chance to win the match, but Miller missed a contested shot. Cardona led the Legends with 31 points while Melton tallied 21. Buenafe added 22 points. Slam Dunk Earlier, Guevarra tallied back-to-back perfect scores in the two-round finals to emerge as co-champions together with Melton in this year's PBA slam dunk competition. Guevarra surprised the fans when he made it to the slam dunk finals, beating high-flyers Chris Ellis and Japeth Aguilar in the elimination round. He then fought on even terms with Melton, the smallest contestant at 5'9” who was the crowd favorite. Guevarra perfectly executed a difficult baseline reverse dunk during the first round of the final to earn two perfect scores of 40 points. He then completed a rim-rattling dunk after a mid-air spin to get another perfect score from the four judges. Not to be outdone, Melton had the crowd roaring with delight when he jumped over two San Mig utility men for a one-handed dunk right on his first attempt. He then executed a two-handed reverse dunk and then a left-handed slam dunk for back-to-back perfect 40-points. After the two-rounds, Guevarra and Melton were declared co-champions. Three-Point Shootout Globalport gunner Mark Macapagal regained the individual title he lost last year to Chris Tiu by scoring a record 24 points in the finals of the PBA Three-Point Shootout. Macapagal was hot from the start, topping the elimination with 23 points, going 10-of-11 during one stretch, to win his fourth three-point shootout trophy over the last five years. Tiu rallied during the last two racks but could only score 22 points. Alaska's JV Casio was the third with 20 points. Obstacle Challenge San Mig speedster Mark Barroca dethroned four-year champion Jonas Villanueva of Air21 in the Obstacle Challenge, clocking 31.4 seconds in the preliminaries to finish as No. 1 among 10 participants. He then improved to 29.8 seconds in the finals. Villanueva finished second at 36 seconds followed by Casio at 54.5 seconds.
