ANTIPOLO – With Magnolia now facing a must-win situation in all its remaining games in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, Mark Barroca couldn’t have said it any better when asked about the team’s current predicament.
“Butas ng karayom ang dadaanan namin nito,” said the veteran playmaker on the way out of the Ynares Center as he pondered on the playoff hopes of the Hotshots after Sunday night’s 85-78 loss to defending champion San Miguel Beer.
“Ito yung literal talaga na must-win yung remaining three games namin. Every game wala ng chance talaga na matalo. Kung wala, bakasyon na tayo.”
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The Hotshots suffered their second loss in three games to further slide down the standings to 11th place with a 3-6 record.
And their coming games are not a walk in the park neither as they’ll be up against teams still in contention for a quarterfinals berth – Phoenix on Jan. 16, guest team Eastern on the 26th, and Meralco on the 31st.
But this loss against the Beermen certainly stings.
Magnolia was still on top, 74-69, with 4:24 to go when the Beermen came to life and went on a 14-4 run capped by three straight three-pointers by Marcio Lassiter and CJ Perez to take the lead for good, 83-78, in the final 25 seconds.
“Masakit. Nakakapang-hinayang,” said Barroca as he groped for words looking back at what hit his team earlier.
“Andun naman kami, sa huli pa talaga.”
It was the second heartbreaker for the Hotshots in their last three outings, counting their Christmas Day game loss against rival Barangay Ginebra, 95-92, in which they lost a huge 22-point lead in the third quarter.
Reminded about the similarity between the two losses, Barroca could only shrug his shoulders.
“Breaks of the game pa rin. Up na kayo tapos may ganun pa rin na nangyari,” he said. “Masakit talaga.”
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