Hotshots avert disaster, ward off Elite

MANILA, Philippines — Magnolia marched to their fifth straight victory in the Philippine Cup after a gutsy stand against Blackwater, 78-72, on Friday night’s PBA affair at the Mall of Asia Arena.

But the Hotshots still had to earn it. After nurturing an 18-point separation from their foes, the top-seeded squad nearly suffered a meltdown.

Mac Belo — who almost singlehandedly brought the Elite back in contention — sank a fall-away jumper to tie the game at 72 with 1:07 left, but multiple stops by the Hotshots— led by Ian Sanggalang — averted a potential disaster.

"It was a very tough game because we know Blackwater will come out very hard [tonight],” mentor Chito Victolero said. "Ang worry ko lang talaga is going complacent eh. So I’m just trying to motivate the players to go hard."

"Although we had some lapses in the end. But siguro, because of our chemistry, naka-lusot kami sa game na ‘to,” he added.

Aldrech Ramos and Marc Barroca led the charge for Magnolia with 14 points each.

The win gave Magnolia a 6-1 record to wrest the standings’ solo leadership from San Miguel Beer.

Blackwater, which is now reeling from a fourth straight loss, drops to 2-5 in the all-Filipino conference.

"A win is a win,” Victolero added. "But we need to improve siguro 'yung execution namin sa dulo, especially pag lamang kami, medyo nagre-relax kami eh.”

The Hotshots and the Elite both have the Beermen as their next assignment.

The Scores:

MAGNOLIA 78 — Barroca 14, Ramos 14, Melton 8, Sangalang 8, Pascual 7, Dela Rosa 6, Jalalon 6, Simon 6, Pingris 4, Herndon 3, Reavis 2, Brondial 0, Gamalinda 0.

BLACKWATER 72 — Belo 25, Maliksi 17, Cortez 8, Erram 6, Jose 4, Pinto 3, DiGregorio 2, Marcelo 2, Sena 2, Sumang 2, Palma 1, Cruz 0, Javier 0.

Quarters: 23-13, 42-29, 61-54, 78-72.