Magnolia puts away NLEX, heads to Finals

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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
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MANILA – Magnolia Hotshots finally moved on from its previous semifinals heartbreaks as it advanced to the best-of-seven Finals of the 2017-2018 PBA Philippine Cup.

Hotshots completed what it failed to do the past three conferences after a 96-89 victory over NLEX Road Warriors in Game 6 of the best-of-seven semifinals Tuesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Ian Sangalang bucked an early foul trouble to finish with double-double 15 points and 11 rebounds while Andy Mark Barroca had his share of double-double with 14 points and 10 boards for Hotshots.

Jio Jalalon played bigger than his size with double-double 11 points and 13 assists while Aldrech Ramos and Kyle Pascual had 10 points each for Hotshots, which will face defending champion San Miguel Beermen in the Finals starting Friday.

“I told the players that we should be consistent in our effort, in our focus and our mental toughness,” said Hotshots head coach Chito Victolero. “Against San Miguel, we will work on our defense kasi hindi kami pwedeng makipagsabayan sa opensa.”

Road Warriors had a strong start and went up by as much as 10 points in the opening period but Hotshots clawed its way up in the second period behind Barroca and Jalalon to take a 49-46 halftime lead.

Road Warriors seized the advantage early in the third 53-49 but Hotshots countered with a 10-0 run from Jalalon, Sangalang and Rome dela Rosa to regain the advantage 69-62.

NLEX managed to snatch an 85-84 lead but Magnolia countered with conversions from Barroca, Sangalang and Jalalon for a 96-89 lead with 31 seconds left in the game.

Michael Miranda top-scored with 20 points while Larry Fonacier added 17 markers for Road Warriors, which was decimated by the absence of the injured Kevin Alas and the ejection of JR Quiñahan over a flagrant 2 foul./PN

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