MERALCO lost big men Raymond Almazan and Cliff Hodge one after the other in the third quarter of Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series against Magnolia on Wednesday.
Almazan hurt his leg early in the second half while Hodge was ejected from the game for committing two technical fouls late in the third quarter of the match at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym.
Without their two best player in the frontcourt, the Bolts lost, 92-78, as the Hotshots took a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven matchup.
Almazan underwent Xray to see the extent of his injured leg.
The 32-year-old Almazan appeared to have landed on the wrong foot as he battled Ian Sangalang for the rebound with 8:10 to go in the third and the Bolts trailing, 44-45.
He laid on the playing court for a few minutes before being carried out by Raymar Jose and Hodge to the Meralco bench.
Hodge would eventually follow Almazan to the sidelines just minutes later when he was assessed a flagrant foul penalty 1 with 1:22 to go in the period, to add to a technical foul called on him earlier in the game.
The Fil-Am forward went to the showers with three points, three rebounds, and four assists in 16 minutes of play.
Almazan meanwhile, limped to a six-point, three-rebound production after playing for 17 minutes.
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