Kiefer Ravena’s end-game heroics were on display again, this time in the 2018 Philippine Cup Semifinals, to help the NLEX Road Warriors take a 1-0 series lead over the Magnolia Hotshots, 88-87, Saturday night at SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The super rookie’s pass to Alex Mallari led to an assist, as the latter made a lead-gaining triple with 14 ticks to go, 86-84, and his perfect shots from the foul line, with less than seven seconds left, set up the stage for the victory.
Ravena finished with 16 points on a 40-percent shooting clip, along with two rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
“Parang kami yung gatecrashers sa party, pero mas kami pa ang nag-e-enjoy kesa sa mga imbitado,” quipped head coach Yeng Guiao, as he and the Road Warriors were able to win their first-ever semifinals assignment.
Cyrus Baguio emerged as the Road Warriors’ top scorer with 17 points with five rebounds. Mallari finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting alongside five caroms as well, and center Raul Soyud chipped in 10 markers off the bench.
The Hotshots were already ahead by six, 74-68, with 7:22 remaining in the match thanks to consecutive triples by Paul Lee and Rome Dela Rosa, and looked to extend the lead further. However, an unfortunate event took place.
Magnolia lost forward Marc Pingris due to an apparent knee injury with 4:39 on the clock after he drove hard to the rim. He was on the ground for a few moments writhing in pain, and had to be carried off on a stretcher afterwards to the dugout.
The team in white then tried to rally behind their fallen leader, especially in the closing moments. Ian Sangalang took over, scoring back-to-back lay-ups to put Magnolia up, 84-83, with just 1:15 to go.
Mark Barroca tried to extend their lead, but his signature one-hander missed. NLEX then got the board, and from there, Ravena’s put on his heroics as he found Mallari open at the top of the key, and his teammate made the trey, 86-84, 14.4 seconds left.
Lee launched from afar on the other end, but his shot only hit the rim. Ravena was there underneath to secure the board, and Magnolia had no choice but to foul him. He then sank his freebies coolly to make it 88-84, 6.8 ticks to go.
Lee still tried to save the Hotshots as he made a triple with just 4.5 seconds remaining. That, however, proved to be eventual score, as Magnolia failed to take care of the ball when they forced an NLEX turnover moments after.
“As I said before this game, we’re just in this for the ride. We’re enjoying our adventure. This is an adventure for us,” added the fiery mentor on the huge victory. “As a team, it’s the first time we made the semifinals.”
Sangalang led Magnolia with 21 points and nine rebounds. Peter June Simon came out firing to supply 20 markers along with five caroms. Lee, who faces his former mentor Guiao yet again, only scored eight on 3-of-10 shooting.
The Scores:
NLEX 88 – Baguio 17, Ravena 16, Mallari 14, Soyud 10, Miranda 7, Fonacier 7, Al-Hussaini 6, Alas 5, Quiñahan 4, Tiongson 2, Ighalo 0, Taulava 0, Gotladera 0.
Magnolia 87 – Sangalang 21, Simon 20, Barroca 9, Lee 8, Ramos 8, Reavis 6, Herndon 5, Pingris 5, Dela Rosa 5, Melton 0, Jalalon 0, Brondial 0.
Quarterscores: 14-12, 32-27, 60-61, 88-87.
