Magnolia rode on a strong first half before slamming the door on Phoenix's comeback hopes in the final frame to take a 90-80 victory and tighten its grip on the top spot in the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Saturday, Nov. 12.

The Hotshots put up a defensive masterclass in the first two quarters where they managed to establish a lead that went to as high as 19 points and never looked back to list Magnolia’s seventh win through eight games.
The wire-to-wire win didn’t come without a scare, however, as the Fuel Masters, behind Sean Anthony, came alive in the third frame, cutting the lead back to single digits before Magnolia turned to its defense anew to keep Phoenix at bay.
Import Nick Rakocevic showed the way for Magnolia with 18 points and 18 rebounds while Calvin Abueva added 15 points and 12 rebounds.
The old reliable in Mark Barroca and Jio Jalalon added 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Paul Lee and Ian Sangalang added 10 apiece.
It was also the defense of Barroca and Jalalon that kept the Phoenix’s rising rookies Tyler Tio and Encho Serrano from getting their usual numbers with the former only scoring seven point while the latter was held scoreless in the contest.
Anthony paced the Fuel Masters with 17 points –11 of which he dropped in the searing third quarter rally that proved to be not enough as Phoenix absorbed its second straight loss for an even 5-5 record in the standings.