Magnolia scuttles NLEX, seals 6th seed
Lee’s hot shooting hands from the last All-Stars game has not cooled down one bit and Magnolia Ang Pambansang Manok hit its immediate goal.
Lee scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half, pointing the Hotshots to a 102-74 victory over NLEX Wednesday and into sixth place at the end of its PBA Philippine Cup eliminations campaign at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Mark Barroca led the other Magnolia players who did their part and ensured the team’s sixth win in 11 games that put it in a muchanticipated best-of-three quarterfinals duel with thirdseed Ginebra, instead of a twice-to-win handicap due to a No. 7 ranking had it lost.
After absorbing its seventh loss against four wins and a tie with Alaska, NLEX was left on pins and needles while awaiting the outcome of the Ginebra-North-Port game later in the evening.
A victory by the Kings boosts the Road Warriors to seventh while the Batang Pier and Aces figure in a onegame playoff for eighth.
If NorthPort wins, it will be NLEX tangling with Alaska in the sudden death set Friday.
Most of the credit for Magnolia avoiding a seventhplace finish and having a win-twice handicap against second-ranked Rain or Shine goes to Lee, who scored all of his 27 points in the last NorthSouth game from beyond the arc.
This time, Lee went 9-of16 from the floor, including 6-of-9 from deep, and also had five rebounds.
Eight of his points came during a furious 14-0 run by Magnolia that razed NLEX’s 7-0 start and put the Hotshots firmly in control.
Magnolia also scored nine straight points, capped by Lee’s triple, to turn a sevenpoint lead to a commanding 46-30 advantage at the half.
It was Barroca’s turn in the third quarter where he scored all 14 of his points to power the Hotshots’ surge to a 77-54 cushion before the difference got stretched to a high of 94-63, 6:14 left in the game.
Aldrech Ramos chipped in 15 points and Ian Sangalang 10 points and six boards for Magnolia.
Bong Galanza’s 10 points were enough to pace NLEX, which made just 28 of 89 shots from the field and committed 15 turnovers. —