Magnolia rediscovered its rhythm when it mattered most, flipping a sluggish start into a commanding 90-75 comeback win over Blackwater to regain its footing in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup, Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Javi Gomez de Liano and Raffy Verano ignited a decisive second-half surge, taking turns dismantling the Bossing as the Hotshots roared back from 12 down and built an 84-61 cushion entering the final six minutes.
Their combined efforts powered a 30-14 third-quarter blast that completely swung the momentum Magnolia’s way.
(C) PBA Images
With the victory, Magnolia put behind its painful 92-94 loss to San Miguel last November 7 and climbed alongside the defending champions at 5-2.
The Hotshots also notched the franchise’s 994th all-time win, officially surpassing the now-defunct Alaska for third on the PBA’s all-time wins list.
But despite the bounce-back triumph, head coach LA Tenorio was far from satisfied with how his team once again sputtered out of the gate.
“We cannot really start like this all the time. Hindi p’wedeng palagi kaming naghahabol. Siguro, I’d rather na kami hinahabol kesa kami naghahabol,” Tenorio said, pointing to the early struggles of his youthful starting unit of Zav Lucero, Jerom Lastimosa, Gomez de Liano, and Chris Koon.
“If you think about it, my starting five is composed of five young players. I know they’re very talented, they’re really capable of winning games for us. But, you know, the important thing is for them is to play together… from the start and set the tone for us,” he added.
Magnolia will have a break before facing Converge on December 5, and Tenorio hopes the pause gives his starters time to tighten their cohesion.
“We’re gonna use this break to clean that up and hopefully when we get back… we really have to be on point,” he said.
Gomez de Liano led Magnolia with 17 points, 10 of which came in the third-quarter push that allowed the Hotshots to seize control for good.
Verano added 12, including seven in the fourth quarter to kickstart a knockout 14-0 run punctuated by a Paul Lee four-pointer and a Gomez de Liano triple that blew the game wide open.
(C) PBA Images
Blackwater, meanwhile, continued its downward spiral.
The Bossing absorbed their sixth straight defeat to fall to 1-6, a skid that now leaves their quarterfinal hopes hanging by a thread with only four games left in the eliminations.
The Scores:
Magnolia 90 – Gomez de Liano 17, Sangalang 16, Lucero 13, Verano 12, Lastimosa 10, Barroca 7, Eriobu 5, Lee 4, Dela Rosa 3, Taha 2, Alfaro 1, Koon 0.
Blackwater 75 – Barefield 16, Panopio 14, Escoto 12, Dumont 9, Andrade 6, Tratter 5, David 5, Mendoza 4, Zamar 2, Una 2, Murrell 0, Mallilin 0, Jopia 0.
Quarterscores: 18-15, 34-41, 64-55, 90-75.
