MANILA – Magnolia Hotshots leaned on the exploits of Ian Sangalang in the fourth period to score an 85-74 win over Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Game 3 of the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup semifinals last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Trailing 57-63 after three quarters, the Hotshots opened the fourth quarter with inside hits to finally take the lead at 68-67 on a triple by Paul Lee. Sangalang then came up with back-to-back hits as Magnolia widened the lead to 76-71.
The Painters came to within 74-76 on a three-point play by Javee Mocon but Sangalang bullied his way against the ROS defenders with six straight points for an 82-74 lead before Jio Jalalon and Andy Mark Barroca sealed the win with hits.
Sangalang finished the match with double-double 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Lee also contributed the same number of points for the Hotshots, which trimmed the series deficit to 1-2.
Guards Barroca and Jalalon struggled offensively as they combined for 14 points but has collared 10 rebounds each for the Hotshots, while Justin Melton also made his presence felt with nine points.
Thanks to Painters stars James Yap, Kris Rosales and Eduardo Daquioag getting tagged with multiple fouls as early as first quarter, the Hotshots was able to lead by 27-17 early in the match.
The Painters made its run in the second period and was able to control the match until the third quarter but the Hotshots got away with several fouls allowing them to claw its way in the match.
Rookie Javee Mocon put up the fight for the foul-plagued Painters with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Beau Belga and Norbert Torres added 12 and 10 markers, respectively./PN
