Magnolia extended its winning streak to five after pulling off a 97-88 overtime victory over Meralco in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center, Friday night.
Led by their backcourt players, the Hotshots were able to fend off every rally put up by the Bolts down the stretch.
Chito Victolero’s wards stepped on the gas pedal in overtime as they held their opponents to just two points to escape with the crucial win.
“Sobrang kailangan namin [ng panalo] kasi nga ‘pag manalo kami dito, may spot ka na sa playoffs,” shared Mark Barroca moments after their hard-earned triumph. “Against Meralco, alam naman namin everytime maglalaro kami with Meralco grinding game eh. So nag-grind kami 53 minutes, hindi lang ‘pag sinabi ni coach 48. 53 minutes talaga kami lagi ang gagawin namin ‘pag kalaban Meralco talaga.”
In his second game back from an injury, Paul Lee topscored the Hotshots with 21 points to go with four rebounds while Barroca provided a lift with 20 points, six assists, five steals, and two rebounds.
Jio Jalalon followed with 19 markers, eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals for Magnolia.
Magnolia (6-3) will look to add another win to its tally against Rain or Shine (3-6) on Wednesday, July 20, at 6:00 PM at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Meanwhile, Chris Newsome bannered the Bolts with 24 points, five assists, four rebounds, a steal, and a block before getting ejected in overtime.
Aaron Black also filled up the stat sheet with 13 markers, eight boards, seven assists, and a block while Bong Quinto supplied 13 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals in a losing effort.
Meralco (5-4) will aim to bounce back against San Miguel (9-1) on Sunday, July 17, at 4:30 PM also at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
Magnolia 97 – Lee 21, Barroca 20, Jalalon 19, Sangalang 12, Dionisio 10, Abueva 7, Laput 3, Reavis 3, Wong 2, Corpuz 0,
Meralco 88 – Newsome 24, Black 13, Quinto 13, Jose 9, Hodge 9, Almazan 8, Maliksi 4, Banchero 3, Pascual 3, Baclao 2, Caram 0
Quarterscores: 20-22, 45-37, 63-60, 86-86, 97-88
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
