ANTIPOLO – Magnolia leaned on defense to prevent a meltdown and escaped the hard-fighting Phoenix, 83-80, to keep in step with the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup leaders, Friday night at the Ynares Center here.
The Hotshots witnessed their 77-65 lead become just a solitary point, 81-80, no thanks to an RR Garcia pull-up from four points with 38.9 seconds remaining. However, the Fuel Masters just couldn’t find the extra gear to get ahead.
Tyler Tio elected to foul Jerom Lastimosa to stop the clock and hope for misses to keep themselves afloat. But the sophomore guard coolly knocked down both of his free throws for the eventual scoreline with 15.4 seconds to go.
Magnolia then prevented their opponents from getting any good look from tying the game, forcing Tio to settle for a deuce, which he airballed as time expired.
(C) PBA Images
“Una kong sinabi sa team during the pregame was, if I’m gonna describe this Phoenix team, they are relentless,” offered head coach LA Tenorio. “They will not stop fighting, and they’re not gonna stop playing until the end.
“But I think isa sa magandang nangyari roon was we won because of a stop, because of our defense,” he added. “Ayun ‘yung parati kong sinasabi sa mga players ko — we have to play defense until we get the ball.”
Lastimosa top-scored for the Hotshots with 14 points and seven rebounds plus a steal, as he finally got the chance to close a game out and succeeded.
Ian Sangalang made 11 points and six rebounds while Zav Lucero added 10 markers in the victory that welcomed new guy Chris Koon. The 24-year-old arrived via trade last Tuesday and scored five points to mark his debut.
But more importantly, the win enabled Magnolia to create a four-way tie atop the standings with TNT, NLEX, and Rain or Shine as they all tote 4-1 records.
The Elasto Painters made it a three-way logjam earlier in the night by topping the gritty Terrafirma, 106-91, before Tenorio & Co. joined the fray.
“Hindi ito ‘yung plano namin as a team. We just want to win every game, just worry about the things in front of us. Now, if we win, we win. But we win in the right way — kung ano ‘yung gusto naming laro,” said Tenorio.
“Kung mananalo kami, so be it. But for now, the most important thing that we’re really focusing on is we just have to get better every day,” he added.
The Hotshots will now brace for two tough games ahead as they will be taking on San Miguel and TNT on November 7 and 9, respectively, in Montalban.
(C) PBA Images
Jason Perkins, on the other hand, finished with a game-high 19 points and five rebounds for Phoenix, which lost its third straight and fell to 1-4.
Sean Manganti was the only other player in double figures with 10 points for the Fuel Masters.
Phoenix will try to snap out of their funk versus the streaking Rain or Shine on November 5, Wednesday, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Scores:
Magnolia 83 – Lastimosa 14, Sangalang 11, Lucero 10, Lee 9, Dela Rosa 8, Gomez de Liano 8, Koon 5, Laput 4, Escoto 4, Barroca 2, Verano 2, Gomez 0.
Phoenix 80 – Perkins 19, Manganti 10, Garcia 9, Tio 8, Rivero 6, Escandor 6, Ballungay 4, Daves 4, Nelle 3, Kwekuteye 3, Santos 3, Caperal 2, Ando 0, Jazul 0
Quarterscores: 22-14, 42-29, 66-54, 83-80.
#WATCH: Magnolia head coach LA Tenorio gives an update on Mark Barroca who hurt his knee after their win over Phoenix 🏀#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/NZ66r9u447
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— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) October 31, 2025
