FOR a very long while Star was on pins and needles against Rain or Shine Wednesday, with Mark Barroca tweaking his left ankle midway in the third period adding to the Hotshots' concerns.
The injury proved to be one Barroca could easily shrug off and he showed it.
Returning to the game in the fourth period, Barroca ignited Star's endgame surge that rolled it past Rain or Shine 84-69 and into the PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ricardo Ratliffe finished with game-highs of 26 points and 24 rebounds, but it was Barroca scoring 10 of his 12 points in the last 6:22 of the game that fully broke the Hotshots away from the ninth and last deadlock at 63.
By the time Barroca drained a near-triple to cap his heroics Star was up by 82-69 and well on its way to a follow up to its more lopsided 118-82 win in the best-of-three series' opener last Monday.
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The victory set the Hotshots up for a best-of-five semifinal meeting with San Miguel Beer.
"I was telling the players after Game 1 that it's going to be a different story in Game 2," related coach Chito Victolero, in his second semis stint in as many conferences with Star.
"They were more physical, their desire to win was much better and their preparation against Ricardo, na na-limit touches niya, was also better," added Victolero.
"But the players didn't give up. Ipinakita nila iyung mental toughness, staying positive, kasi napakasama ng shooting percentage namin."
Rain or Shine did put up a more gallant stand, but simply could not pounce on the opportunity which presented itself when Star struggled both from the field and the stripes.
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Duke Crews could have helped, but he was again saddled by early foul trouble and spent more time on the bench. He wound up with just 12 points and five rebounds in just over 22 minutes, helpless on the sidelines as Star steadily chipped away at an early eight-point Rain or Shine lead.
Jeff Chan and Chris Tiu were the next best scorers for the Elasto Painters with nine points apiece as they failed miserably to force a decider and thus get another crack at retaining the title.
On a night Allein Maliksi failed to buy any basket despite 10 tries and fellow Game 1 hero Aldrech Ramos also netted just two points on a 1-for-5 clip, other Hotshots stepped up.
Paul Lee scored 13 points despite going 0-for-6 from beyond the arc while PJ Simon added nine, six coming in the fourth period that helped Star take a 61-57 lead.
In stark contrast to the opener when it displayed a fiery touch from the get-go, Star found it hard to puncture the rim this time around, making only 30 out of 86 field goal tries and netting just four out of 31 three-point tries. It also missed seven of 27 free throw attempts.
But the Hotshots' defense held when it mattered most as they limited Rain or Shine to a dismal 6-for-14 clip from the floor and eight of its 24 turnovers in the fourth quarter.
A glimpse of Star's ability to make stops was had right in the third period when it held the E-Painters to a 5-for-16 field shooting to raze a 33-37 halftime deficit and wrest the lead 55-52 going to the final canto.
Crews already had 10 points on a perfect 5-for-5 clip, but picked up two fouls just two minutes apart in the second period -- the last an F! on Barroca -- that gave him four and forced him to sit out the final 3:20 of the first half.
Like they did in a narrow three-point loss to TNT when Crews got ejected at the 6:51 mark of the third period, the E-Painters' locals gamely carried on the fight with Chan scoring five points during an 8-2 flurry that gave them a 37-33 lead at the turn.
Star's first half was in stark contrast to its game in the series opener, when it waxed hot from the start to lead by as many as 28 in the second period. This time, the Hotshots made just 12 of 44 shots, including 1-for-17 from deep, in the first 24 minutes of play.
