The South Prevails In Maharlika Pilipinas' All-Star Game

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SPORTS | February 19, 2020

Jeff Viernes shows his strut and stuff for the South All-Stars during the 2020 MPBL All-Star Game. (Image Source: Manila Bulletin Sports)

Two days before the highly-anticipated NBA All-Star Weekend which was dedicated to the late great Kobe Bryant and ahead of its Lakan Cup playoffs that began after Valentines Day, the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) staged its second annual MPBL All-Star event last February 13, 2020 inside the SM Mall of Asia Arena headlined by the action-packed All-Star Game between the North and South All-Stars.

The South All-Stars would win the said game over the North at overtime, 126-122, after veteran guard Jeff Viernes stole the show in the final minutes of the game lifting the South to the said win. He would eventually clinch his second straight All-Star Game MVP award after delivering the goods with 28 points, six rebounds and six assists. Alvin Pasaol and Will McAloney have chipped in throughout the game for the South with 19 and 16 points, respectively. On the other hand, leading the North throughout the game was Michael Juico with 23 points, 9 rebounds and four assists followed by John Wilson with eighteen points off 3 three-pointers in the team's efforts.

On the side events, professional dunker David Carlos dominated the Slam Dunk Contest with a perfect score of 50 for his final jam. The Makati Super Crunch star jumped over people, including MPBL founder Sen. Manny Pacquiao and son Jimuel, and flushed home an impressive one-handed dunk for his second consecutive Slam Dunk crown that bested second placer Bacoor's Nick Damusis and third placer Chris Calata of Bicol. Meanwhile, Lester Alvarez of the Bulacan Kuyas went perfect in the third rack and sank the two last money balls in the final rack to finish with 24 points, outlast the scores of Nueva Ecija's James Martinez (20) and Bicol's Jerome Garcia (17), and become the Three Point Shootout champion.

The MPBL All-Star festivities has added two 3x3 games in partnership with the league's new partner Chooks-To-Go. The first one was dominated by Team Pacquiao composed of Thirdy Ravena, Troy Rike and Alvin Pasaol. The team vanquished Team Kobe (Joshua Munzon, Gerald Anderson, Marco Alcaraz, Juan Gomez De Llano with Kobe Paras as coach) in the celebrity 3x3 game with the score of 21-15. In the second 3x3 game, the North All-Stars (Pasay's Jaypee Belencion, Bulacan's JR Abalanza, Valenzuela's Paolo Hubalde, Manila's Aris Dionisio) got a close 21-19 win over the South (Zamboanga's Leo De Vera, Bacoor's Nick Demusis, Mindoro's Rodel Vaygan, Imus' Jayjay Helterbrand) thanks to Hubalde's deep straight hits.