Magnolia Pambansang Manok made sure that its big lead would be safe and secure unlike the last time and extended the frustration of winless Blackwater with a 94-78 victory in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Don Honorio Ventura State University in Bacolor, Pampanga.
The Hotshots leaned on a third quarter blitz to build several 19-point leads before sustaining their form till the end to shake the bitter pill of suffering a massive collapse against the Meralco Bolts two days earlier.
“Very sad and frustrated kami after ng game but it can be a good thing or a bad thing,” said coach Chito Victolero.
The Hotshots were up 13 with two minutes left against the Bolts, before things unravelled when turnovers and defensive miscues resulted in a 95-94 defeat that ended with Chris Newsome converting a layup at the horn.
“It’s bad because we controlled the game for 46 minutes and in the last two minutes, na-out of focus kami, we relaxed and natalo kami. But it’s good because it happened early in the conference and we have a chance para macorrect namin mga mali namin.”
Mark Barroca came off the bench to produce 16 points and seven assists, Ian Sangalang also scored 16 while Calvin Abueva had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Also a key contributor for Magnolia was rookie guard Jerrick Ahanmisi, who put up 12 points aided by three triples.
Blackwater fell to 0-6, dead last in the league, after absorbing its 14th consecutive defeat dating back to last season’s Philippine Cup bubble in Angeles City.
The Bossing have not won since Oct. 17 when they beat the NLEX Road Warriors, 98-88, at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.
Six threes in the first seven minutes, two of which coming from Kelly Nabong, enabled Blackwater to take a 20-10 lead.
But Magnolia didn’t panic and slowly came back to go into halftime ahead 44-41. From there, the Hotshots broke loose to gain their first 19-point advantage at 70-51, on Barroca’s two foul shots with two minutes in the third.
Nabong had 19 points and 14 rebounds while Mike Tolomia, who tried in vain to lead the Bossing back, added 16 points.
The scores:
MAGNOLIA 94 — Sangalang 16, Barroca 16, Lee 15, Abueva 14, Ahanmisi 12, Jalalon 7, Corpuz 6, Delarosa 4, Brill 2, Reavis 2, Melton 0, Pascual 0, Dionisio 0.
BLACKWATER 78 — Nabong 19, Tolomia 16, Amer 9, Daquioag 8, Canaleta 6, Paras 6, Cruz 6, Enciso 5, Escoto 2, Golla 1, Torralba 0, Desiderio 0.
Quarters: 22-26, 44-41, 70-57, 94-78.