MERALCO found an answer to Magnolia’s potent firepower in the first half. As the game wore on however, the Hotshots proved too much for the Bolts.
Magnolia charged back from an early 17-point deficit and scored a 94-80 victory in Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinals duel in the PBA Governors Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Import Mike Harris scattered a game-high 26 points, to go with 16 rebounds and four assists for Magnolia, while Jio Jalalon provided the sorely needed boost off the bench and chipped in 15 markers, six boards, and six dimes.
Paul Lee and Calvin Abueva also added 13 and 12 points, respectively, as the Hotshots, coming off a 127-88 drubbing of Phoenix Super LPG in the quarterfinals last Friday, gained a big start in the race-to-three series.
Game 2 is set tomorrow at the same venue.
Magnolia coach Chito Victolero took his wards to task for their sluggish start and pointed to their defense, which clamped down on the Bolts in the second half, that proved to be among the keys in their triumph.
“(We had a) very slow start. I talked to my players (at halftime), and I told them that if we cannot match the intensity and aggressiveness of Meralco, we’ll have a hard time winning this game,” Victolero said.
“In the second quarter, we started playing the Magnolia Hotshots basketball, which is our aggressiveness, our effort. It started with our defense. Magandang depensa ang ipinakita namin sa second half,” he added.
Meralco raced to a 33-16 lead on a Bong Quinto drive at the 7:48 mark of the second quarter and held a 43-35 edge at the half.
But the Hotshots regained their bearings in the third canto and outscored the Bolts 29-13 behind Jalalon, Lee, and Harris to grab the upperhand 64-56 heading into the payoff period.
A Tony Bishop basket pulled Meralco to within 64-66 with 10:05 left in the fourth canto but Magnolia pulled away for good from there.
Aris Dionisio’s two free throws, only 37 ticks left, stretched the Hotshots difference to as high as 94-80 which stood as the final count.
Chris Banchero paced the Bolts with 16 points, while Quinto and the usually explosive Bishop added 13 and 10, respectively.
