MAGNOLIA showed it has learned its lesson well and is now all the better because of it.
Refusing to let their emotions get the better of them, the Hotshots showed better poise in the crunch to beat Meralco 88-79 yesterday at the start of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinals duel at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Ian Sangalang finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, but it was Calvin Abueva bucking foul trouble and delivering some key plays in the fourth quarter that enabled Magnolia to seize control and gain the headstart in the best-of-seven matchup over the same team that wound up second in the eliminations.
“Sa game na ito, siyempre, semis, ine-expect talaga na grinding game. Hindi namin inisip na madali ito. Kaya nga nasa semis iyung Meralco. Kaya nandiyan sila, kasi deserve nila,” said Sangalang.
“So, kami, like what I’ve said before, kapag hindi ka talaga magtatratabaho matatalo ka dito. Siyempre, importante, Game One.”
For coach Chito Victolero, as crucial was his team avoiding the endgame collapse that led to them losing to the Bolts 94-95 last Sept. 1, when the Hotshots blew a 12-point lead in the last two minutes.
“We talked about 48 minutes. We learned a lot last time, during the eliminations. We only played 46 minutes,” related Victolero.
“Dito kung nakita n’yo, even if we’re up by 12 we keep on pressuring the ball because you know they can come back. We want to finish the game hard.”
Setting that strong finish up was Abueva, who scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth period. The first four of those sparked an initial 10-0 run by Magnolia, giving it the lead for good at 73-69.
Not long after, Sangalang, Paul Lee and Mark Barroca joined in for a more massive 15-4 barrage that put the Hotshots ahead 88-74, 1:41 left, and this time for good.
The game was marked by some testy moments as early as the first quarter and up to the dying seconds with Victolero even getting into a verbal tussle with Raymond Almazan, netting both of them technical fouls.
Victolero was quick to dismiss the incident. “Medyo nagkaroon ng verbal interaction, but we’re okay,” he said. “Part of the game, di p’wedeng mawala iyon. Part of being emotional, pero wala naman iyon.”
The one-time Coach of the Year was more concerned with Abueva picking up three fouls right in the first quarter and getting two more in the third period.
“It was hard for us because iyung rotation ko medyo naapektuhan. But the way Calvin, nu’ng tumingin siya sa akin nu’ng fourth quarter, gustong-gusto niyang maglaro. So sabi ko, bahala na basta ingatan lang niya,” related Victolero.
“Ayun, at least ang laking tulong. Nakakuha kami ng energy sa kanya sa opensa saka sa depensa. Iba din talaga pag nandoon si Calvin sa loob.”
