Magnolia weathered both the early exit of Paul Lee and a gutsy third quarter storm from Terrafirma to roll to a big 105-83 win and stay undefeated in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup Friday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Ian Sangalang paced the Hotshots with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting, while Mark Barroca stepped up off the bench after Lee's departure and added 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting, six rebounds, five assists and one steal in 25 minutes.
Rookie guard Jerrick Ahanmisi had the best game of his young PBA career so far and scored all of his 15 points on 4-for-8 shooting from deep in the fourth quarter to help Magnolia solidify its hold of the lead atop the standings at 4-0.
"Mark Barroca stepped up in the absence of Paul," coach Chito Victolero said after the game. "And it was all about our defense. That's what we really talked about, anyway. We wanted to respect this Terrafirma team, and we wanted to have the proper mindset. That's what we preached in the last three days. We really put a lot of emphasis on our mindset entering the game because we didn't want to relax."
After Lee was helped off the floor early following an injury that had him clutching his right hamstring at the 4:39 mark of the second quarter, Magnolia went on a 13-2 run to finish the first half to take a commanding 58-37 lead.
The Hotshots continued to press on the hurt and even pushed that advantage to as much as 22 early in the second half, but a massive Terrafirma surge later on kept Magnolia from immediately cruising to a dominant victory.
Following an apparent finger injury that forced Joshua Munzon to exit the game for good at the 10-minute mark, the Dyip outscored the Hotshots 20-8 behind Roosevelt Adams and Juami Tiongson, who combined to score half of the team's points in to win the quarter 24-13 and cut the lead to as low as eight, 69-61.
But that run only served to light a fuse under the Hotshots, who fired back with a 7-0 start to the fourth period as a Calvin Abueva basket restored the lead to a safe 78-61 cushion.
Ahanmisi, Magnolia's 10th overall pick in the 2021 PBA Draft, added to Terrafirma's woes with a big fourth quarter that included a deep triple to hike the Hotshots lead to 26, 94-68, with 5:29 left in the game.
"We were actually waiting for Jerrick's breakout game because he has been practicing well and he's always had the right attitude. He's always putting a lot of time on his shooting. And at the same time, Paul and Mark are guiding him because the kid's just 23 years old. We want him to become the future," Victolero remarked.
Abueva added 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting as well as eight rebounds and three dimes off the bench, while Jio Jalalon contributed nicely at the point guard spot by collecting 10 points and a game-high nine assists.
Magnolia also held the Dyip to just 39.5 percent shooting from the field -- the fourth consecutive instance in this conference that the Hotshots kept their opponents under 40 percent.
Terrafirma, which slipped to 0-3 in the tournament, leaned on a career night from Adams as he finished with 25 points on 8-for-16 shooting, including six triples, 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in the loss.
Tiongson also put up a good game and tallied 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting along with three 3s, three assists, two assists and two steals. Aldrech Ramos breached double-figures as well with 10, five boards and a block.
THE SCORES
Magnolia (105) -- Sangalang 18, Barroca 16, Ahanmisi 15, Abueva 14, Corpuz 12, Jalalon 10, Lee 5, Brill 4, dela Rosa 4, Dionisio 3, Deleon 2, Pascual 2, Melton 0, Reavis 0, Capobres 0.
Terrafirma (83) -- Adams 25, Tiongson 19, Ramos 10, Batiller 7, Camson 6, McCarthy 5, Munzon 5, Cahilig 4, Calvo 2, Laput 0, Alolino 0, Gabayni 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0, Balagasay 0, Celda 0.
Quarter Scores: 33-25, 58-37, 71-61, 105-83.
EXTRA DRIBBLES
- Victolero said Magnolia didn't field Lee as a safety precaution and is optimistic that the star guard avoided a major injury. "He told me he strained something in his leg," he said, "but it's not a major injury, I think ... He'll probably have to take an MRI to see what happened and we'll let him rest for a couple of days. Hopefully there's no major injury to Paul."
- Abueva and Ahanmisi tied for the game-high in box plus-minus at +24.
NEXT GAMES
- Terrafirma vs. Rain or Shine on Sunday, August 1, at 7:00 p.m
- Magnolia vs. NorthPort on Thursday, August 5, at 7:00 p.m