Magnolia fended off the brave stand from Terrafirma and eked out an 89-84 victory to get a much-needed boost to its PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup campaign at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday, Jan. 10.

The holiday rest seemed to have benefited import Ricardo Ratliffe who looked like his old dominant self with 32 points and 14 rebounds to lift the Hotshots against the hard-fighting Dyip who kept in step until the dying seconds.

Zav Lucero provided support to Ratliffe with 17 points and six rebounds while Ian Sangalang added 13 and seven as Magnolia improved to a 3-5 record but still outside the Magic 8 at the 10th spot.

The Hotshots, however, had to overcome some tense moments in the contest as the Dyip not only came too close for comfort but were playing so well that they even led by as many as seven at one point of the contest.

Even to the last two minutes, Magnolia, which took an 87-81 lead with 1:58 left, still needed a clutch inside basket from Ratliffe with 29 seconds to finally shake off Terrafirma.

Stanley Pringle and Brandon Edwards were the bright spots for the Dyip who failed to give offseason acquisition Terrence Romeo a winning debut and prevent their team from dropping to a 0-9 slate.

Pringle finished with 22 points while Edwards had 14 points and eight rebounds. Kevin Ferrer added 11 and Mark Nonoy with eight as Romeo had a rather quiet first game for the Dyip with only three points to show.