Having been thirsty for a title shot for four years now, the Magnolia Hotshots are now bound for the 2018 Philippine Cup Finals as they edged the NLEX Road Warriors, 96-89, in the semis’ Game Six Tuesday at SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Hotshots will now face the reigning, three-time All-Filipino champs San Miguel Beermen in the ultimate phase — their eighth Finals meeting and second as sister teams. Game One of the best-of-seven series is on Friday, March 23.
“First of all I’d like to thank my players and the whole coaching staff,” said Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero, who has made the franchise’ rebuilding phase hardly felt for the four conferences he has mentored them.
“Talagang depensa namin and desire and will ng mga players na pumasok sa Finals, naging aggressive from start to finish. We know na hindi yan madali,” he added. “Kahit undermanned sila, it was very hard going into the Finals.”
Ian Sangalang paced the Hotshots with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Mark Barroca supplied 14 points and 10 boards, and Jio Jalalon provided 11 markers and 13 assists. Kyle Pascual and Aldrech Ramos scored 10 each.
It had been a nip-and-tuck affair for the entirety of the match, as various deadlocks and lead changes had taken place. NLEX even had a chance to extend the series when they knocked within two, 89-91, with 2:09 to go.
But the Road Warriors squandered the golden chance as Kiefer Ravena and Larry Fonacier committed back-to-back errors, which led to a five-point swing for the Hotshots, 96-89, with 1:23 left — enough to secure the Finals ticket.
Michael Miranda led NLEX with a career-high 20 points along with eight rebounds. Larry Fonacier had 17 points, seven boards, and three assists; while Cyrus Baguio produced 10 markers, seven caroms, and six dimes.
Super rookie Kiefer Ravena failed to get himself going in Game Six as he was limited by the Hotshots’ defense to just nine points on 3-of-17 shooting. But he made up for it with five rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
“Credit to Mark and to Jio and to Rome [Dela Rose] for doing a good job sa one-on-one defense kay Kiefer,” Victolero lauded. “Ang goal namin is ma-limit si Kiefer, di namin ma-stop yun, malimit lang namin ang produciton.”
The commencement of this year’s All-Filipino title bout will be on Friday, March 23, 7:00 PM still at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
Magnolia 96 — Sangalang 15, Barroca 14, Jalalon 11, Pascual 10, Ramos 10, Dela Rosa 9, Lee 9, Reavis 6, Simon 6, Herndon 4, Brondial 2.
NLEX 89 — Miranda 20, Fonacier 17, Baguio 10, Ravena 9, Mallari 8, Taulava 7, Soyud 6, Tiongson 5, Quiñahan 4, Ighalo 3.
Quarterscores: 20-29, 49-46, 71-68, 96-89.
