Allein Maliksi nips LA Tenorio in thrilling PBA Shootout by sinking last money ball

Apr 28, 2017

Allein Maliksi celebrates after sinking the money ball in his last rack. Jaime Campos

LUCENA CITY - Star forward Allein Maliksi won his first PBA Three-point Shootout title on Friday, beating LA Tenorio by sinking four balls in his last rack including the two-point money ball in a thrilling finals before a roaring crowd at the Quezon Civic Center.

Maliksi, who took Paul Lee's place in the Gilas Pilipinas pool, scored 21 points in the eliminations to take his place in the finals alongside Terrence Romeo of GlobalPort (18) and Tenorio, who topped the preliminaries with 23 points.

Shooting first in the finale, Tenorio set the bar high with 18 points which defending champion Romeo barely failed to beat after missing the money ball in his last rack. He finished with 17 points.

Maliksi struggled in his middle racks but found his touch in time to win his first shootout title with a final-round 20 points.

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"Medyo nakaka-pressure sa dulo kasi paubos na oras. Mindset ko lang to make every shot. Sarili mo lang naman kalaban mo kaya nag-focus lang," said the former University of Santo Tomas star after winning his first shootout title on his first try.

"It just so happened na ako yung mainit today. Nag-focus lang talaga," he added.

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Tournament favorites Marcio Lassiter and Matthew Wright wound up with 13 and eight points, respectively, in the elimination round and failed to reach the finals.

Other shooters who particpated in the event were Simon Enciso, Ronjay Buenafe, Gary David, Jared Dillinger, Juami Tiongson, Maverick Ahanmisi, and Larry Fonacier.

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