Macapagal, Villanueva retain All-Star events titles

PBA/Nuki Sabio

Meralco sharpshooter Mark Macapagal and B-MEG court general Jonas Villanueva each won their third straight titles in separate events Friday at the All-Star Weekend in Laoag City.

Macapagal beat a crack field of the league’s elite three-point shooters for the third straight time. The competition was marked red-hot shooting in the first round, with Barangay Ginebra’s KG Canaleta shooting 19 points and Macapagal, B-MEG’s Josh Urbiztondo, and Petron’s Marcio Lassiter scoring 16 each to advance to the final round.

Canaleta and Urbiztondo, who was a late replacement for the ailing James Yap, went first in the finals, shooting 13 points each. Macapagal proved his mettle, shooting consistently en route to 15 points. Lassiter had the final say of the competition, but the rookie jump-shooter ran out of gas and finished with just seven points.

Also competing in the three-point shootout were Renren Ritualo of Air 21, Willie Miller of Barako Bull, Gary David of Powerade, Jeff Chan of Rain or Shine, and Cyrus Baguio of Alaska.

PBA/Nuki Sabio

Villanueva, meanwhile, nosed out rookie Paul Lee in an exciting final round in the Obstacle Challenge, winning by just two-tenths of a second with a finishing time of 31.1 seconds to Lee’s 31.3.

Finishing third was Alaska’s LA Tenorio, who clocked 43 seconds, 13 slower than the time he posted in the preliminary round.

Lee had the best finish in the opening round, finishing at 27.2 seconds. Villanueva posted 29.1 seconds in round one while Tenorio finished in 30 seconds to complete the final round cast.

Also part of the field were Miller, Air 21′s Jojo Duncil, Ginebra’s Rob Labagala, Meralco’s Chris Ross, and Powerade’s JVee Casio to annex his third straight title in the Obstacle Challenge.

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