Bay Area regained the PBA Commissioner’s Cup leadership following a 95-89 win over erstwhile top seed Magnolia, Saturday night at the Philsports Arena.
Myles Powell led the way once more with 32 points and 11 rebounds, nailing important buckets down the stretch to help the Dragons ward off the Hotshots’ furious rally from 17 down spearheaded by Jio Jalalon and Nick Rakocevic.
“He made plays during it but when it’s crunch time, we got the ball to him in the mid-block, he did some stuff off pick and roll, and then the ball was in his hands to decide the game,” said head coach Brian Goorjian.
The guest team from Hong Kong has now won third consecutive games and improved to 9-2 to bolster its bid of a Top Two finish for the quarterfinals.
Bay Area received significant contributions from its usual providers. Glenn Yang submitted 19 points, five rebounds, and six assists, while Zhu Songwei produced 15 markers on top of seven boards and five dimes.
It was actually Zhu who kept their foes at bay with a bucket off a drive, making it a five-point gap after Jalalon cut it to 82-79 with 5:37 to go.
Then came Powell, following it up with a three-poimt play conversion to widen the gap to eight, 87-79, with less than 4:30 remaining.
Jalalon and Rakocevic still tried to will Magnolia back into the match that saw them cut the deficit to four thrice but Zhu provided the responses, scoring his team’s last four points via free throws to close the game out.
“We were once tested by Tim Cone’s team … they’re similar, and they dominated us,” said Goorjian. “And we worked for this opportunity again to see where we’ve gone. It’s a young team, it’s a new team and they’re warriors.”
“They played great basketball but that’s the best we’ve played, that’s the toughest we’ve played, and that’s been a nice eye opener for me — the growth in those young guys along with Myles,” added the decorated mentor.
Bay Area will look to cap off its elimination round campaign with another victory against TNT on Wednesday, November 23, in the same venue.
Rakocevic led Magnolia with 26 points anf 19 rebounds in just their second loss of the tournament, which reduced the team to being second-seed,
Jalalon had 19 points, six boards, three assists, and three steals for the 8-2 Hotshots, who now aim to sweep their final two games — first against Meralco on the 27th and Rain or Shine on December 2.
The Scores:
Bay Area 95 – Powell 32, Yang 19, Zhu 15, Ju 8, Liu 8, Reid 6, Blankley 5, Lam 2, Zheng 0.
Magnolia 89 – Rakocevic 26, Jalalon 19, Lee 15, Sangalang 8, Ahanmisi 6, Abueva 4, Dela Rosa 3, Dionisio 3, Wong 3, Barroca 2, Reavis 0, Corpuz 0.
Quarters: 25-21, 47-44, 73-64, 95-89
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
