MANILA – Magnolia Hotshots moved to a share of the No. 1 spot in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup after manhandling Columbian Dyip 113-95 on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Hotshots tied with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings on top with a 5-1 win-loss card. Romeo Travis led its scoring with 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists while Andy Mark Barroca and Paul Lee added 16 and 13 points, respectively.
In the second game, Alaska Aces banked on the hot shooting of Mike Harris in the fourth quarter for a 106-89 domination of Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and to improve to a 4-1 win-loss record.
Baskets from Travis, Lee and Robbie Herndon let the Hotshots surge to a 12-2 start. The lead went up 20-8 after back-to-back inside hits by Travis but the Dyip countered with triples to cut the deficit to 8.
Again the Hotshots slowly pulled away in the second period with baskets from Travis, Barroc and Ian Sangalang, and made their largest lead 77-49 on a fast-break hit by Herndon.
The Dyip made their run in the final quarter and managed to come to as close as 16 points but baskets from Barroca, Lee and Rome dela Rosa reestablished a 20-point advantage for the Hotshots.
Jackson Corpuz led the Dyip with 20 points. Akeem Wright and Jay-R Reyes added 19 and 15 points, respectively. With their 0-7 card, the Dyip bowed out of the playoff contention.
In the succeeding game, the Aces trailed 75-79 at the onset of the final quarter before going with a 16-0 run on inside and outside hits from Harris, Vic Manuel and Chris Exciminiano, all toward a 91-79 advantage.
After the Painters cut the deficit to 10 points, the Aces pulled away for good with 5 straight points from Harris and a triple by Simon Enciso for their largest lead 106-86.
Harris finished the match with 39 points and 25 rebounds while Manuel, Enciso and Chris Banchero had 16 points each for the Aces. Beau Belga led the Painters (0-3) with 20 points./PN
