Magnolia weathered the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ furious late-game rally to sneak away with a 69-68 win in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup, Friday evening at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Romeo Travis finished with 26 points, 14 rebounds, two steals, two blocks, and a steal to lead the Hotshots to their second straight win.
Magnolia also hiked their win-loss record to 2-1.
“Credit to the players. The mental toughness, the physical game, yun yung pinaghandaan namin eh,” said coach Chito Victolero. “Breaks of the game lang sa dulo and thank God sa amin binigay.”
The Hotshots were already sitting comfortably with a 68-58 lead with 4:40 remaining in the game. The Elasto Painters then made 10 straight points to tie things up at 68 with 2:17 left.
Luckily for Magnolia, Keyal Locke turned the ball over, then Mark Barroca split his charities off a Ping Exciminiano foul to give the Hotshots the one-point lead with less than a minute to go.
Still, Rain or Shine had their chances to take the lead. Even though Beau Belga overshot a trey with 34 seconds left, Barroca missed a jumper on the other end which Belga was able to haul down.
The Elasto Painters then had 9.8 seconds to set up the game-winning shot. Unfortunately, the Hotshots’ defense spoiled their plans, as Gabe Norwood’s mid-range jumper missed as time expired.
“I told them sa dugout after the first half, ‘This is like Game Seven of our Philippine Cup semifinals’,” recalled Victolero. “Parang ganyan din. Tight, less than 30, then they had a big run in the third.
“Halos ganun yung nangyari, and then dogfight na sa fourth quarter. Parehas na parehas lang. Sabi ko nga it’s a test of our character, being mentally tough in the end,” he furthered.
Javee Mocon had 14 points and eight rebounds to lead Rain or Shine, who absorbed their second straight loss.
Debuting import Locke had 13 points and nine rebounds against six turnovers in the defeat that sent RoS to 1-3.
The Elasto Painters became the first team in league history to not make a single field goal in a quarter after scoring just six points — while Magnolia had 11 — in the first quarter.
Magnolia will next face the Alaska Acces (0-4) on Sunday, October 6, at SMART Araneta Coliseum. Meanwhile, Rain or Shine will play the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters (1-3) on October 9, Wednesday, at Cuneta Astrodome.
The Scores:
Magnolia (69) — Travis 26, Sangalang 8, Barroca 8, Lee 7, Reavis 6, Dela Rosa 5, Jalalon 4, Melton 3, Pingris 2, Herndon 0, Brondial 0.
Rain or Shine (68) –– Mocon 14, Locke 13, Belga 9, Borboran 7, Yap 6, Daquioag 5, Exciminano 5, Ponferada 3, Norwood 2, Nambatac 2, Torres 2, Onwubere 0, Rosales 0.
Quarterscores: 11-6, 32-25, 47-52, 69-68.
