Star's Victolero relieved to have weathered comeback try by Painters

MANILA, Philippines — Star head coach Chito Victolero said he was expecting great resistance in Game Two of their quarterfinal series with Rain or Shine.

And it showed.

The first three quarters may have seen a low-scoring game, but the Hotshots came out with guns blazing toward the final moments of the third period. In the final canto, they outclassed the Elasto Painters en route to an 84-69 win Wednesday night at the Big Dome.

"Simula pa lang ng preparation namin, I told the players na it's a different story ang Game Two," Victolero said. "They are more physical and the desire to win is much better."

The two teams were neck-and-neck in the first half. If not for Ricardo Rattlife coming alive late in the period, the Hotshots would've not created separation. The American reinforcement emptied eight of his total 26 points in that frame to dominate the Painters and keep counterpart Duke Crews scoreless. 
 

"[They prepared] against Ricardo," Victolero said. "They were doing a good job all throughout the game. Nalimit nila 'yung touches [niya]."

But the Painters—who haven't scored a win against the Hotshots since the swap of Paul Lee for James Yap—had no answer for Mark Barroca's 10-point spurt in the payoff period.

PJ Simon added six to Ratliffe's seven and Barroca's barrage to help the Hotshots pull away. The gap swelled to 84-69 in that same period.

"Credit to coach Caloy Garcia and his coaching staff," Victolero said. "But my players never gave up. They kept on grinding and digging sa laro." 

"Naging positive kami sa buong game," he added.

Victolero will try to lean on that positive outlook as he is about to take on Philippine Cup titlist San Miguel Beermen in the semifinal round.