MAGNOLIA clinched a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals by coming back from a 16-point deficit to beat Meralco, 88-85, on Wednesday in the PBA Season 46 Governors’ Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Paul Lee and Adrian Wong led a fiery comeback from a 53-37 deficit in the third quarter that ended with the Hotshots amazingly in the driver's seat, 68-66, after a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Wong.
The Hotshots held their ground from there in the face of a late rally by the Bolts, thanks to the timely heroics of Mike Harris in a fiercely fought thriller between the two teams at the top of the standings.
After its eighth win in nine games, Magnolia became the first team to claim a twice-to-beat edge, with Meralco dropping to 6-3 and sliding to third place behind idle NLEX (7-3).
Meralco still had a chance to send the game into overtime but Allein Maliksi’s long, hurried, and contested three-pointer didn’t even hit the rim with 2.3 seconds left in the game.
Harris shows way
Mike Harris tallied 30 points and 22 rebounds, while Lee added 16 points. Wong contributed 10 points, all coming in the third quarter.
The Hotshots started out slow, in the absence of injured players Ian Sangalang and Calvin Abueva, but got back in the game with a 32-19 third period sparked by the 10 points of Jio Jalalon.
“We had that effort pero maganda ‘yung pace ng Meralco. We talked about it at halftime na natalo kami sa pace. Sa third quarter, we adjusted, started Jio in the third quarter, and nakakuha kami ng momentum at energy from Jio," said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero.
“Good thing we executed well on defense especially in the fourth. We also limited their import. Na-disrupt namin ‘yung execution nila.
The Hotshots opened the fourth with a 9-2 run, four coming from Harris, to grab a 77-68 advantage.
“Credit all to the players. They did a good job. Kahit na kulang-kulang kami, no excuses. Sabi ko next man up and everybody stepped up,” said Victolero.
Tony Bishop scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Chris Newsome had 18 points in a loss that came on the heels of a last-second loss to Alaska last Saturday.
The scores:
Magnolia 88 – Harris 30, Lee 15, Jalalon 10, Barroca 10, Wong 10, Reavis 6, Corpuz 4, Escoto 2, Brill 0, Ahanmisi 0, Dionisio 0.
Meralco 85 – Bishop 19, Newsome 18, Banchero 13, Maliksi 13, Almazan 6, Hodge 5, Caram 5, Black 4, Belo 2, Quinto 0.
Quarters: 11-23; 36-47; 68-66; 88-85.
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