PAUL Lee finally showed up in the semifinals, delivering the critical baskets in the fourth quarter as Magnolia defeated Meralco, 94-73, on Wednesday to send their PBA 46th Season Governors’ Cup series to a deciding fifth game.
Under fire after misfiring in two losses that left Magnolia on the brink of elimination, Lee responded with a 17-point performance he capped with back-to-back field goals in the final quarter - the last a three-point play that pushed the Hotshots’ lead to 85-67.
That proved to be enough as Magnolia tied the best-of-five semifinal series at 2-2 and arranged a sudden-death match on Friday to decide which team will move on to the title playoff against Barangay Ginebra.
Ginebra beat NLEX, 112-93, to wrap up their own semis series, 3-1.
“No more tomorrow, that’s the mentality,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero. “We just tried to live one game at a time and pinag-usapan lang namin is possession by possession. We need to grind possession by possession on both ends of the floor.”
Lee had battled a left ankle injury in the playoffs which he appeared to aggravate early in the third quarter when he stepped on Cliff Hodge’s foot after taking a shot.
He had to be assisted back to the bench, but later returned to play a vital part of Magnolia’s win in Game Four.
Mike Harris had 34 points and 18 rebounds to carry the load for Magnolia until Lee took over. Calvin Abueva had 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals in what was easily his best game in the semifinals.
Magnolia recovered early after giving up the first 11 points to Meralco, taking the lead for good after finishing the second period with a 13-3 blast en route to a 42-30 halftime lead.
“Medyo nawawala sa amin the last two games is how we enjoy the game. Right now, that’s the two words – the grind and enjoy the game,” said Victolero.
Tony Bishop had 22 points and 16 rebounds, but Meralco played the majority of the game without Chris Banchero, who had back spasms.
Chris Newsome had 11 points but the Bolts struggled offensively with their point production being the lowest this conference.
The scores:
Magnolia 94 – Harris 34, Lee 17, Abueva 11, Jalalon 10, Corpuz 9, Barroca 5, Sangalang 4, Brill 2, Reavis 2, Dela Rosa 0, Wong 0.
Meralco 73 – Bishop 22, Newsome 11, Almazan 8, Banchero 7, Maliksi 7, Quinto 6, Caram 4, Black 3, Hodge 3, Baclao 2, Belo 0, Canete 0, Pasaol 0.
Quarters: 20-19; 42-30; 62-52; 94-73.
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