
MANILA – Magnolia Hotshots cruised to a wire-to-wire 97-81 victory over the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters in the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup last night at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Romeo Travis nearly finished with a triple-double with 20 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, while Ian Sangalang, Paul Lee and Chris Banchero added 17, 15 and 10 markers, respectively.
The defending champions Hotshots moved up to 5-4 following the win.
It set the tone early with baskets from Travis, Jiovani Jalalon and Andy Mark Barroca for a 28-12 edge in the second period but the Fuel Masters came up with a late rally to come to within 31-41 at the half.
The Fuel Masters started strong in the third period. It trimmed the deficit to 45-47. The Hotshots, however, were quick to restore order as buckets from Sangalang and Lee gave them a 69-60 lead.
Phoenix was still hanging around in the fourth quarter and was only down 79-73 before Magnolia went for the finishing run behind Travis, Banchero and Lee as the lead grew to 92-77.
As the Fuel Masters dropped to 2-7 record, Alonzo Gee tallied double-double 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Matthew Wright and Alex Mallari added 19 and 13 markers, respectively.
In the first game, San Miguel Beermen got the job done even without an import. It took down Blackwater Elite in overtime, 99-96, to rise to 6-3 and snap its two-game losing skid.
After failing to close out the Elite in the regulation despite leading 88-79 in the final two minutes, the Beermen surged to a 98-92 lead in overtime with baskets from June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo.
The Elite did not easily gave up as shots from Rey Mark Belo and Carl Bryan Cruz pulled them to within 96-98 before Romeo sealed the victory for the Beermen with a free throw with 0.8 seconds left.
Fajardo tallied 30 points and 13 rebounds, while Romeo chipped in 20 markers for the Beermen. Belo finished with 25 points as the Elite slumped to its fifth straight defeat for a 2-8 record./PN