MAGNOLIA lost grip of a huge 19-point lead, but got back its act just in time to finally barge in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup win column at the expense of Macau Black Knights, 121-109, Saturday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Mark Barroca, Jerom Lastimosa, and Zavier Lucero carried the fight for the Hotshots after the Black Knights overhauled a 54-73 deficit and tied the game at 94-all.
But the Magnolia trio answered back behind a 10-3 run to steady the ship for Magnolia, 104-97, and finally gave coach LA Tenorio his first win in four games in the mid-season conference.
The win was also a fitting welcome for new Magnolia import Clint Chapman, who debuted for 39 points and 15 rebounds as replacement for Nuni Omot.
"We really needed this win. For me, a win is a win," said Tenorio afterwards.
'It's very hard to win now in the PBA and nakikita naman natin na all the teams are improving."
Lucero and Lastimosa again came through for Magnolia with 23 and 20 points, respectively, while Barroca played an all-around game of eight points, six rebounds, and seven assists as he stabilized things for the Hotshots.
Magnolia went on a 21-3 run to open the third quarter to post its biggest lead at 19.
But just when everybody thought the Black Bears are just going to roll over and die, Chon Pong Lao, Damian Chong Qui, Phoenix Shackleford, and import Tony Mitchell rallied back the guest team and knotted the count at 94 on a three pointer by Shackleford inside the five-minute mark.
That's when Barroca and Co. answered the call for the Hotshots as they steered the team to safer grounds going home.
Lao finished with a team-high 24 points spiked by an impressive 8-of-15 shooting from three-point range, Mitchell had a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds, Chong Qi added 20, and Shackleford was 3-of-7 from the three-point arc for 19 points.
Still those numbers were not enough to prevent the Black Knights from going down to their fourth straight loss despite having a new voice in the locker room in Marcus Elliott, who replaced former coach Garrett Kelly.
The scores
Magnolia 121 -- Chapman 39, Lucero 23, Lastimosa 20, Barroca 8, Lee 8, Gomez de Liano 8, Koon 6, Sangalang 5, Dela rosa 2, Laput 2, Goomez 0, Alfaro 0, Andrada 0.
Macau 109 -- Lao 24, Mitchell 22, Chongqui 20, Shackelford 19, Leung 14, Li 5, Cao 3, Lu 2, Chen 0.
Quarters: 26-25; 52-51; 84-68; 121-109.
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