STAR playmaker Mark Barroca emerged as the Accel-PBA Press Corps Player of the Week after leading the Hotshots to a 2-0 start in the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup.
The 5-10 Barroca beat Star teammate Peter June Simon, Meralco young guard Baser Amer and Jared Dillinger, Rain or Shine sophomore point guard Maverick Ahanmisi, Mahindra’s Ryan Arana, Alaska rookie forward Carl Bryan Cruz and TNT’s Jayson Castro for the weekly citation for the period covering March 20-26.
Stepping up in place of combo guard Paul Lee, who is playing through a knee injury, Barroca came off the bench to fire 17 points and adding two steals in 23 minutes as Star debuted in the midseason conference with a 101-82 rout of Phoenix last Wednesday.
Three days later, Barroca had eight points, five rebounds, the same number of assists and two steals while helping Star contain two-time PBA Scoring champion Terrence Romeo in the Hotshots' runaway 103-77 win over GlobalPort.
The Hotshots join the Meralco Bolts (3-0), defending champion Rain or Shine (3-0) and Alaska Aces (2-0) as the remaining unbeaten squads this conference. San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra are the two remaining teams that have yet to see action this conference after figuring in the best-of-seven championship series in the Philippine Cup last month.
Star has several days to prepare before returning to action against winless NLEX this Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.