MANILA — The Rookies showed more determination and spunk to handily beat the Sophomores, 150-131, Friday night in the Blitz Game of the PBA All-Star Weekend at Puerto Princesa Coliseum in Palawan. The Rookies dominated the exhibition game from the start, never giving the Sophomores any opportunity to catch up. They were led by Matt Ganuelas-Rosser of Talk N Text who posted 32 points, four assists, two steals and three blocks. GlobalPort's top pick Stanley Pringle, Talk N Text's Kevin Alas and Blackwater's Brian Heruela also starred for the Rookies who led, 43-33, after the first quarter. The Sophomores played to entertain the crowd with Purefoods' high-flying guard Justin Melton putting on a dunking exhibition and GlobalPort's Terrence Romeo scoring from all angles. However, the Rookies maintained a 76-65 lead at halftime and continued to pour in the points in the second half, leading by as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter. With the game already decided, players from both sides turned the contest into a dunking exhibition with Romeo, RR Garcia of Barako Bull and Jeric Fortuna of San Miguel Beer being carried by their taller teammates such as Rey Almazan of Rain and Shine and Rosser to complete the jams to the delight of the fans. Guevara Slam Dunk king Doing a Kobe Bryant, high-flying Rey Guevara of the Meralco Bolts retained his title as the 2015 PBA Slam Dunk king, beating Japeth Aguilar of the Barangay Ginebra in the PBA All-Star Weekend. With the score tied at 97-all after two-round finals, Aguilar did a Michael Jordan act, taking off from the free throw line for a slam, but his effort only earned him 46 points. Guevara followed next. Copying what Bryant did during the 1997 NBA slam dunk contest, Guevara perfectly executed a between-the-legs twisting slam to earn a perfect score of 50 points for the win. Guevarra shared last year's title with Justin Melton of the Purefoods Star Hotshots. Melton failed to reprise his success last year. Other slam dunk contestants were Barako Bull's JC Intal and Talk N Text's Matt Ganuelas-Rosser. Romeo wins Three-Point Shootout Terrence Romeo of the Global Port Batang Pier outgunned Purefoods' James Yap and Barako Bull's JC Intal to win the Three-Point Shootout contest. Romeo posted 18 points in both the preliminary and the final round to capture his first major individual PBA title, defeating Yap who faltered in the last two racks and settled for second place with 14 points. Defending three-point king Mark Macapagal of Meralco failed to get past the first round after scoring just 11 points. Fortuna tops Obstacle Challenge San Miguel Beer's sophomore guard Jeric Fortuna played with veteran-like poise to win the Obstacle Challenge event, topping the finals of the blitz game with 32.1 seconds. Placing a close second was Jonas Villanueva of Barako Bull who clocked 37.7 seconds. Chris Banchero of the Alaska Aces finished third with 44.9 seconds. It was the 23-year-old Fortuna's first major individual title as a pro.
