Magnolia took no chances and dominated an all-Filipino Meralco, 129-92, to remain in the hunt for a ticket to the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals, Friday evening at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Hotshots faced a Bolts side still without Akil Mitchell due to a nagging back injury and that was an opening they took full advantage of, leaning on Ricardo Ratliffe to dictate the pace early toward the wire-to-wire victory.
With the result, Coach Chito Victolero’s wards will finish the elimination round with a 6-6 record, and more importantly have forced a playoff for the no. 8 spot against either Rain or Shine (6-5) or NLEX (6-6) this Sunday in Antipolo.
The Elasto Painters are set to wrap up the preliminaries later tonight with a duel against TNT, which has secured the no. 2 seed thanks to Magnolia.
(C) PBA Images
“Na-appreciate ko lahat ng efforts ng players ko because talagang tinatrabaho naman nila sa practice. I mean, we’re practicing like [it’s] a game. So talagang deserve nila na nandito sa sitwasyon na ito,” said Coach Chito Victolero.
Ratliffe finished with 31 points and 19 rebounds to show the way. The veteran reinforcement proved too much for the Meralco bigs, as evidenced by his 15-point effort in just the first quarter alone for a 35-19 start into the match.
“I had to do that,” said the 35-year-old, who shot 13-of-15 from the field. “They’re a good defensive team, but unfortunately they were without their import tonight so I had to be a little bit more aggressive and just lead the team.”
Zav Lucero supplied 22 points, spiked by a perfect 4-of-4 clip from three, in a turnover-less outing that earned him Player of the Game honors.
The seniors showed up as well, with Mark Barroca and Ian Sangalang delivering 18 points apiece while Calvin Abueva chipped in 14 markers.
“Thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for the opportunity na makapaglaro for the no. 8 [spot],” expressed Victolero. “The only thing is, we have only one day to prepare so hopefully, maka-survive again on Sunday.”
(C) PBA Images
Leading Meralco’s charge was Raymond Almazan, who finished with 23 points in what should be good news for a team with a hurting frontcourt after lead forward Cliff Hodge suffered a sprained wrist during the match.
Rookie guard CJ Cansino was the only other double-digit scorer with 11 points for Meralco, which, regardless of the loss, is heading into the quarterfinals as the fifth seed and will take on no. 4 Barangay Ginebra in a best-of-3 series.
The Scores:
Magnolia 129 – Ratliffe 31, Lucero 22, Sangalang 18, Barroca 18, Abueva 14, Lee 7, Dionisio 7, Lastimosa 6, Alfaro 2, Dela Rosa 2, Laput 2, Eriobu 0, Balanza 0.
Meralco 92 – Almazan 23, Cansino 11, Black 9, Bates 8, Quinto 7, Banchero 6, Reyson 5, Torres 5, Rios 5, Mendoza 4, Caram 4, Pasaol 3, Newsome 2, Hodge 0.
Quarterscores: 35-28, 73-47, 101-75, 129-92.
