With a lot of creativity and unbelievable spring in their legs, Justin Melton and Rey Guevarra earned their places in the history of the PBA’s All-Star festivities.

On a night when all the defending champions in the Skills Challenge of the annual All-Star break were dethroned, Melton and Guevarra electrified the crowd and were crowned co-champions of the centerpiece Slam Dunk Competition at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Guevarra and Melton displayed varying skills, with Guevarra coming up with powerful throw downs and Melton, standing a shade under 5-foot-10, soaring high for graceful moves.

Mark Macapagal reclaimed the Three-Point Shootout title and Marc Barroca dislodged ‘five-peat-seeking’ Jonas Vilanueva in the Obstacle Challenge as the side events provided for an interesting appetizer to the All-Star Game Sunday afternoon.

Guevarra and Melton were tied the whole night, scoring three perfect dunks of 40 points each with both missing a fourth by a point in their second slams in the preliminaries.

“I got going because the crowd was behind me all night,” Melton, the chief back-up at the point to Barroca at San Mig, told reporters. “It was such a rush. I loved performing for them.” Both scored 79 points each to make the final round and tied after being awarded 80 points.

Guevarra scored the first perfect dunk of the night when he came from the baseline – and with seemingly little effort – double-pumped the ball before slamming it home with the left hand with a lot of authority.

Melton followed suit and pulled off a trick very few before him had done in the event.

Putting two utility men of the San Mig Coffee squad just inside the no-charge zone, Melton leapt over them and then flushed it down with the left hand in a tomahawk motion that got the crowd pumped up for the rest of the competition.

Japeth Aguilar and Chris Ellis of Barangay Ginebra, pre-event favorites, failed to make it past the eliminations with Ellis failing to defend his title after scoring just 70 points in two attempts.

In the finals, Guevarra got things going by again driving from the baseline, leaping and pumping the ball below his feet before flushing it down reverse with two hands for another 40 points.

Melton’s first dunk in the finals was also a jaw-dropper, as the Fil-Am rookie bounced the ball on the floor before grabbing it with two hands in mid-air and turning for a two-handed reverse.

The Meralco forward Guevarra sustained the excitement when he took off from just inside the 15-foot line for his second dunk in the finals and then spun in the opposite direction for a 180 degrees before ramming it home with the right hand.

“I had fun,” Guevarra, who also won a Slam Dunk title while playing for Letran in the NCAA in 2007, said. “It was special for me because of the fans.” Meanwhile, Macapagal, with his strokes consistent all night, scored 24 points in the finals of the Three-Point Shootout to nip defending champion Chris Tiu by two and Alaska’s JV Casio by four.

It was the fourth title in the last five years for Macapagal, a true deadshot whose reign was ended last year by Tiu in Digos, Davao del Sur.

“I wanted to win this just to see if I still had it in me,” Macapagal said in Filipino.

An innovation in the Three-Point Shootout was introduced as one rack had five money balls in it, meaning a possible 10 points in just five shots.

Macapagal benefitted from this the most as he nailed all five balls in the final round.