Magnolia fended off a huge second half uprising from Northport to come away with a 80-77 victory and barge into the win column in the PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday, June 15 at the Mall of Arena in Pasay.
With the Batang Pier threatening to steal the game away from the Hotshots in the waning minutes, Calvin Abueva and Rome Dela Rosa delivered the final blows - none bigger than the latter's go-ahead triple with 10 seconds left.
Magnolia notched its first win in three games while also putting a dent to Northport’s 2-0 start.
Abueva had a double-double performance of 23 points and 12 rebounds while Paul Lee fired 12 points on a 4-of-7 shooting from three-point line in his return to the lineup after missing the Hotshots’ first two games.
Northport, after trailing behind by 17 points in the first half, came back roaring behind the scintillating three-point shooting from Roi Sumang and Robert Bolick in the final frame. Bolick's top of the key trey even gave the Batang Pier a 77-75 cushion with 54 seconds left in the game.
Abueva answered back with a layup on the other end to tie the game at 77-apiece. Kevin Ferrer had the chance to shove the lead back to the Batang Pier but he muffed two crucial free throws and allowed the Hotshots to reclaim possession that led to a go-ahead left wing triple from Dela Rosa which happened to be his first field goal of the contest after missing his first seven attempts.
Arwind Santos had the chance to send the game to an extra period but came up short in his game-tying attempt.
“It’s a close game again but that sense of urgency in terms of executing, in terms of consistency, the effort, the desire, I think nagawa naman namin,” said Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero.
“Wala akong masasabi about sa effort of my players, every game even the last two games but it’s all about the breaks of the game in the last two games, maybe also on executing our plays in the end but now we did a good job on executing on both ends especially down the stretch,” he added.
Santos paced Northport with 18 points while Sumang and Jamie Malonzo added 15 markers apiece. Bolick, despite being hounded by Magnolia defense all-game-long still finished with 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field.
Magnolia built a comfortable 40-23 lead in the first half courtesy of a 19-6 run led by Lee who nailed all of his triples in the first two quarters. NorthPort, though, battled back with its own 10-2 finishing kick to cut the lead down to nine, 42-33 at the break.