Magnolia finished strongly to beat Blackwater, 105-84, and stay perfect in the PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup, Wednesday night at the Philsports Arena.
The Hotshots only led by five entering the final period but turned the switch all of a sudden, detonating a 35-point explosion that left the opposition shell-shocked as the crew went on to rack up their sixth win in as many outings.
“I think it’s our defense again,” said head coach Chito Victolero, “We limited them to under 90 points. I think we’re more focused on the second half.”
Tyler Bey led the pack with a 20-20 outing as he finished with 26 points and 22 rebounds, together with three assists, a steal, and a block.
Paul Lee produced 19 points, spiked by three treys, plus four rebounds and six assists, while the trio of Jio Jalalon, Mark Barroca, and Ian Sangalang chipped in 10 points apiece for the squad that remains on top of the standings.
The quartet of Bey, Jalalon, Sangalang, and Barroca keyed the Hotshots’ 9-0 start into the fourth for the 79-65 lead that set up the rout.
“We are the target of most teams but sabi ko ng sa mga players ko, we need to get to that next level because most of the teams are motivated to prepare for us and beat us, but we need to be more aggressive,” he added.
The romp serves as a solid warmup for Magnolia in its upcoming rivalry game versus San Miguel on Sunday, December 10, 6:15 p.m. at Philsports.
Meanwhile, Mike Ayonayon and rookie Christian David had 15 points each to lead the Bossing, which absorbed their sixth successive loss.
Troy Rosario made 14 points while guard Rey Suerte and RK Ilagan added 13 apiece as the locals picked it up on the night import Chris Ortiz got checked by the Hotshots and was held to a conference-low eight points on 13 shots.
“We wanted Rafi [Reavis] to get to the import first before Rome [Dela Rosa] and Abu [Tratter] and T-Bey. We tried to give the import different looks,” said Victolero when asked why he started Rafi Reavis in the game.
Blackwater (1-5) will face another test on December 15, Friday, as it takes on TNT. Game time is at 4 p.m. at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
Magnolia 105 – Bey 26, Lee 19, Jalalon 10, Sangalang 10, Barroca 10, Eriobu 9, Laput 5, Tratter 5, Dela Rosa 3, Mendoza 3, Escoto 3, Reavis 2, Ahanmisi 0, Murrell 0, Dionisio 0.
Blackwater 84 – David 15, Ayonayon 15, Rosario 14, Suerte 13, Ilagan 13, Ortiz 8, Guinto 3, Amer 2, escoto 1, Ular 0, Hill 0.
Quarterscores: 27-23, 52-47, 70-65, 105-84.
