Rookie Ellis wins PBA slam dunk crown

Barangay Ginebra’s Chris Ellis became just the fifth rookie to win a slamdunk crown while Rain or Shine’s Chris Tiu became the new three-point king in yesterday’s skills competition of the 2013 PBA All-Star Week at the Davao del Sur Coliseum in Digos City.

Barako Bull’s Jonas Villanueva, for his part, extended his reign as obstacle challenge champion.

Ellis completed an elbow dunk to defeat teammate Elmer Espiritu in the final round.

Ellis scored 49 points in the finals against Espiritu’s 45.

Ellis is now in the company of Gabe Norwood (2009), Brandon Cablay (2003), Joey Mente (2001) and Vergel Meneses, who won slamdunk titles in their rookie year.

The other slamdunk participants were Alaska’s Calvin Abueva, Meralco’s Cliff Hodge and Petron’s Arwind Santos.

Tiu, on the other hand, totaled 21 points in the final round to down KG Canaleta, who scored 18.

Defending champion Mark Macapagal failed to advance to the finals after managing just 11 in the elimination round.

Sealing his fourth obstacle challenge title was Villanueva, who was accurate in the preliminary and finals rounds.

Villanueva clocked 27.2 seconds in the eliminations before timing 26.3 seconds in the finals to edge out Ellis and Talk ‘N Text’s Pamboy Raymundo.
Ellis ended the course in 28.10, while Raymundo timed 30.3.
Villanueva’s time ranked second to the all-time best of 25.8 seconds of Willie Miller in the contest’s 2008 edition in Bacolod City.