Nick Rakocevic fired 36 points as Magnolia strengthened its grip of the spot with a 111-97 romp of NLEX to preserve its immaculate record in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday Oct. 12.
The Hotshots import didn’t look like he was coming off a huge injury scare in their last game as he dropped 15 of his total in the third quarter where his team left the Road Warriors in the dust and never looked back to remain unbeaten in four games.
The Serbian-American import also had 15 rebounds across his name while Jio Jalalon had 18 points and eight assists and Mark Barroca with 16 points.
A 10-0 spurt inside the last two minutes of the opening frame set the tone in the first half as Magnolia took a comfortable 58-48 lead at the break. NLEX, refusing to go down with a fight, unleashed the first few punches in the third frame to cut the deficit to just four, 58-54.
The Hotshots, on the other hand, retaliated with ther own blazing 14-4 blast to reestablish a double-digit spread, 72-58. NLEX, behind the efforts of Kevin Alas and import Earl Clark, tried to keep their team within striking distance but a huge 7-0 personal run from Rakocevic built a 19-point lead which the Hotshots never relinquished until the final buzzer.
Alas and Justin Chua paced the Road Warriors with 16 points each while Clark and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser chipped in 15 points apiece – all of which, however, went down the drain as NLEX absorbed its second straight defeat after opening the conference with twin victories.