MAGNOLIA coach Chito Victolero lauded the effort of his army of guards who he said left league-leading TNT befuddled with their peskiness on defense.
The Hotshots beat TNT, 102-92, with Paul Lee, Chris Banchero, and Mark Barroca showing the way in the offense - and backcourt mates Jio Jalalon and Justin Melton joining an impressive effort by the team on defense.
“I have the five makukulit guards,” said Victolero. “Right now, maganda ang laro ni CB (Chris Banchero) and also Justin (Melton) and Jio (Jalalon). Excellent sila sa mga ginagawa nila.”

The pressing defense worked wonders for Magnolia.
Although TNT stars Ray Parks and Jayson Castro had their usual numbers of 29 and 25 points respectively, others struggled. Roger Pogoy, averaging 21.7 points prior to the game, was limited to only seven.
When asked who’s the peskiest among his guards, Victolero said: “Si Jio ang makulit at si Mark. Actually lahat ‘yan, makukulit. I like the peskiness and the toughness of my guards. That’s our strength. We just try to maximize our strength.”
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