IAN Sangalang kept his cool in the face of Michael Miranda's antics to help Magnolia pull off a 106-99 win over NLEX in Game 3 of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal playoff.
Sangalang finished with 24 points, making most of his damage in the fourth quarter as he regained his composure after being baited into committing a technical foul and an offensive foul by his former teammate at San Sebastian.
"Ganon talaga. Kilala naman natin si Michael, gagawin niya best niya para mapikon ka. Pero alam ko naman gagawin niya," Sangalang said of his former teammate and provincemate.
"So stay focused lang ako sa game. Nakuha ko game ko nung bandang huli," he added.
The 6-foot-7 big man from Lubao, Pampanga was motivated to get the victory for veteran teammate Marc Pingris, who went down with an ACL injury in the series opener and is out for six to eight months.
Pingris, Sangalang said, dropped by practice to raise the spirits of the Hotshots, who made the semifinals in all three conferences last season but never reached the finals.
"Sinabihan niya lang kami na sayang ang opportunity sa semis. Pang apat na namin to so dapat 'wag sayangin di lang para sa kanya pero para rin sa amin at sa fans."
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
