BACOLOD - Raymond Almazan proved he's one of the best shooting big men in the PBA after topping the NUSTAR Resort and Casino Long Distance Three-Point shootout (big men edition) on Saturday at the University of La Salle gymnasium.
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The veteran Meralco center dropped 19 points in the final to win the novelty event that replaced the scrapped slam dunk contest.
Almazan won P30,000 after beating Dave Marcelo of NLEX, rookie Christian David of Blackwater, and Isaac Go of Terrafirma in the finals.
Marcelo, earlier dethroned as Obstacle Challenge champion, finished runner-up with 16 points while David and Go came through with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Incidentally, David and Go topped the eliminations by tallying 20 points each to advance to the finals.
Both Almazan and Marcelo had 17 to complete the finals cast.
Fajardo far off
Others who competed include new Obstacle Challenge champion JM Calma (16 pts) and seven-time MVP June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel who was decent enough to finish with 15.
Completing the list are Keith Zaldivar of Converge (16 pts), Ralph Cu of Barangay Ginebra (15 pts), Phoenix's Jason Perkins (14), Leonard Santillan of Rain or Shine (12), Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser (9), and James Laput (5).
Meanwhile, Calma won the bragging rights as the new Obstacle Challenge champion of the All-Star festivities.
The Northport sophomore big man tallied the fastest time in the finals with 26 seconds to beat Santillan and Laput to win the champion's purse of P30,000.
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