BACOLOD CITY – TNT’s Calvin Oftana dethroned Paul Lee to become the new three-point king while Meralco’s Raymond Almazan reigned in the first big men edition of the contest, highlighting the 2024 PBA All-Star Skills Challenge at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum on Saturday, March 23 here.
Struggling early on with his first shot even only hitting the side of the board, Oftana got things going starting on the second rack at the right wing and never cooled down from there to top the final with 25 points.
He hit two of the five shots in his money ball rack at the top of the key before formally taking the lead from Lee after another near-perfect clip from the left wing.
Lee, last edition’s winner, failed to defend his crown after only finishing second with 20 points – a far cry to his 26 points in the preliminary round. Chris Newsome, after also torching the net with 28 points in the eliminations, went ice cold in the final to finish third with only 15 points.
Almazan, on the other hand, did just enough in the elimination round to cling into a tie for third place with NLEX’s Dave Marcelo before surprising everyone in the final.
After shooting just 17 points, Almazan found better rhythm and drilled 19 points to even best elimination top scorers Christian David of Blackwater and Isaac Go of Terrafirma who both buried 20 points.
They however both lost the shooting touch with David only coming up with 15 and Go with 13. Marcelo finished second with 16.
Meanwhile, NorthPort’s JM Calma ruled the obstacle challenge after only needing 26 seconds to complete the stations. He bested Rain or Shine’s Santi Santillan who clocked 29 seconds and Magnolia’s James Laput who recorded 30 seconds.
Oftana, Almazan and Calma all bagged P30,000 for winning the events.
