Magnolia blew out Phoenix Super LPG, 103-83, to stretch its unbeaten run to six in the PBA Governors’ Cup, Saturday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Adrian Wong turned in a career-high 18 points as he sparked the Hotshots’ third quarter breakaway towards keeping their hold of the top spot — and to virtually clinch themselves a spot in the quarterfinals.
Just in his third game with his new team, the Ateneo product made half of his points in the said period, which saw him drill a pair of triples in a telling 15-3 blitz that turned a narrow three-point lead to 54-39 with 9:03 to go.
Wong made all of his points from beyond the arc. The 25-year-old product of Ateneo also collected two rebounds and two assists in over 28 minutes of play.
“I’m very happy for him kasi ito ‘yung breakout game ni Adrian on his third year. Good thing nakuha namin siya,” said head coach Chito Victolero.
Mike Harris top-scored for Magnolia with 20 points and 13 rebounds. The former Best Import was responsible for pushing their lead to a game-high 25 points, 82-57, through a fadeaway early in the fourth quarter.
Paul Lee finished with 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Mark Barroca added 13 markers, seven dimes, and five boards in the win.
“We want to develop our consistency, yung character namin na gusto buuin,” said Victolero, who isn’t settling even at 6-0. “We want to be consistent going into the latter part of the conference or into the playoffs.”
Magnolia will look to continue its winning ways against the 1-5 NorthPort on Thursday, February 23, at 6 p.m. at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
On the other hand, Matthew Wright had 18 points, six assists, and five rebounds to lead Phoenix, who failed to extend its win streak to three.
Billy Ray Robles backed him up with 15 points as the Fuel Masters hardly received contributions from import Dominique Sutton. The 35-year-old only mustered nine points on eight shots and eight rebounds in 30 minutes.
Phoenix, who dropped to 4-3, will face another SMC team in San Miguel Beer on Wednesday. February 23, also in Antipolo.
The Scores:
Magnolia 103 – Harris 20, Wong 18, Lee 14, Barroca 13, Escoto 9, Corpuz 8, Reavis 6, Sangalang 6, Ahanmisi 5, Jalalon 4, Brill 0, Dionisio 0.
Phoenix 83 – Wright 18, Robles 15, Manganti 9, Sutton 9, Garcia 8, Demusis 8, Perkins 6, Melecio 5, Jazul 3, Chua 2, Pascual 0, Camacho 0, Rios 0.
Quarterscores: 21-20, 39-34, 75-54, 103-83.
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