Road warriors, Aces duel for eighth

Hotshots No. 6; Batang Pier No. 7

MANILA, Philippines — Magnolia secured a spot in the best-of-three quarterfinals while NorthPort nailed an outright Final Eight passage with crucial victories over NLEX and Barangay Ginebra, respectively, at the close of the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Paul Lee sustained a hot shooting from his record-setting performance in the All-Star Game, firing away six treys in an effort that rubbed off on his teammates as Magnolia crushed NLEX, 102-74, for the No. 6 seeding in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, rookie Robert Bolick delivered in the clutch with Sean Anthony sidelined by a groin injury as NorthPort withstood Ginebra, 100-97, to finish seventh in the single-round-robin elims.

NLEX, Alaska Milk and Columbian ended up tied at No. 8 on their identical 4-7 win-loss cards. With the higher quotients, the Road Warriors and the Aces dispute the last quarterfinal berth on a knockout setto at 7 p.m. tomorrow over at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

“I’m thankful we did well in our last three games and we made it to the quarters automatically. We lost six in a row but we’re able to come back. We’re now shifting our focus on the quarters,” said NorthPort coach Pido Jarencio.

“Rain or Shine is tough. They’re a complete team and we’re definitely the underdog. But the ball is round as they say, and let’s see. We’ll try to map a good game plan,” said Jarencio on their quarters matchup with the second-seeded Elasto Painters.

Aldrech Ramos, Mark Barroca, Justin Melton and PJ Simon also connected from afar like Lee, and the whole team put up a lockdown defense as the Hotshots salvaged a sixth-best 6-5 win-loss slate in the elims and thus set a race-to-two-games quarters with the third-seeded Barangay Ginebra Kings.

 Lee piled up 26 points in all while Ramos and Barroca added 15 and 14, respectively, for the Hotshots who kept the quarters door open for the Alaska Aces in foiling NLEX’s bid for an outright playoff entry.

 “We achieved our goal to get the No. 6 spot, and a big factor was our defense that limited NLEX below 90 points,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero.

“We’re facing a tough team in Barangay Ginebra in the quarters, but at least we’ll face them on equal footing; no advantage, no disadvantage as we play a best-of-three,” Victolero added.

Victolero felt they’re peaking at the right time, and this could give them a good opportunity to repeat their semifinal conquest of the Gin Kings in the last Governors Cup.

The Hotshots enter the playoffs riding the momentum of a three-game romp.

Personally, Lee is on a roll, with his hot streak spiked by a record-setting nine triples made in the Calasiao All-Star Game.

Last night, Lee pumped in six-of-nine three-pointers, including a buzzer-beater that gave the Hotshots a 46-30 lead at the half.

The national mainstay scattered 10 points in the first half before Barroca took over in the third, leading their sustained charge as the Hotshots broke the game wide open at 69-44.

The scores:

First Game

Magnolia 102 – Lee 26, Ramos 15, Barroca 14, Sangalang 10, Jalalon 8, Herndon 6, Melton 5, Simon 5, Brondial 5, Reavis 2, Gamalinda 2, Pascual 2, Dela Rosa 2, Calisaan 0, Abundo 0.

NLEX 74 – Galanza 10, Ighalo 9, Tallo 8, Quiñahan 8, Erram 7, Rios 6, Paniamogan 6, Varilla 6, Magat 6, Soyud 4, Baguio 2, Lao 2, Tiongson 0, Taulava 0, Paredes 0.

Quarterscores: 20-16, 46-30, 77-54, 102-74

Second Game

NorthPort 100 – Bolick 24, Anthony 19, Tautuaa 17, Guinto 14, Grey 9, Pringle 9, Taha 6, Flores 2, Elorde 0, Lanete 0, Sollano 0.

Ginebra 97 – Slaughter 14, Cruz 13, Mercado 10, Thompson 9, Aguilar J. 8,  Dela Cruz 8, Ferrer 7, Devance 7, Caperal 4, Mariano 4, Teodoro 4, Tenorio 3, Chan 3, Aguilar R. 3, Caguioa 0.

Quarterscores: 22-21, 47-45, 77-72, 100-97