MANILA – Magnolia Hotshots battled back from a double-digit deficit to score a 103-90 victory over the NorthPort Batang Pier in the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Paul Lee waxed hot with 24 points, including six triples, while Ian Sangalang and Rodney Brondial added 14 and 11 markers, respectively, for the Hotshots, which moved up to 4-5 win-loss slate.
Down by as much as 11 points in the third period, the Hotshots slowly made its move on baskets from Sangalang, Justin Melton and Lee to come to within 76-82 heading into the fourth.
Magnolia started strong in the fourth period on a triple by Lee, back-to-back inside hits by Brondial and a layup by Melton for an 85-82 lead. NorthPort then exchanged hits with the Hotshots to force a deadlock at 89-all.
However, that was the last stand of the Batang Pier as the Hotshots unloaded a huge finishing run on consecutive inside points from Sangalang to build its largest lead at 103-90.
Sean Anthony top-scored with 22 points, while Moala Tautuaa added double-double 19 points and 16 rebounds for the Batang Pier, which slumped to its sixth straight loss to drop to 3-6 card.
Meanwhile, the Alaska Aces returned to their winning ways following a 92-77 domination over the Meralco Bolts and keep its hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals round alive.
The Aces opened the match with an early 15-5 run behind Jeron Teng and Joachim Thoss to establish a 17-8 edge. The Bolts made its run several times in second and third frame but the Aces answered back for a 60-44 lead.
Meralco cut the deficit to single digit in the fourth period but Alaska always has an answer to widen the lead to its largest at 18 points with Teng, Thoss and Kevin Racal converting timely hits.
Teng top-scored with 16 points, while Simon Enciso added 14 markers for the Aces, which halted its three-game slide to improve to 4-5 win-loss slate. Nicholas Salva finished with 23 points for the Bolts, which dropped to 3-7./PN
