Abueva Calvin Abueva of Magnolia drives hard. PBA photo

Magnolia spoils Eastern’s bid for Top 2 spot

January 29, 2025 Robert Andaya 178 views
Lucero
Zav Lucero of Magnolia delivers. PBA photo

ALIVE and kicking.

Magnolia Chicken Timplados routed Hong Kong Eastern, 107-78, to keep their hopes for a quarterfinal berth alive in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Ricardo Ratliffe stood at the helm of the much-needed victory as he posted a near triple-double of 25 points , 16 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks in 41 minutes of action for the Hotshots, who stayed in the hunt for at least the eighth and final spot in the quarterfinals with a 5-6 win-loss record.

Zav Lucero added 20 points and nine rebounds, while Jerome Lastimosa had 20 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Chito Victolero-mentored Hotshots.

Magnolia also got 14 points and four rebounds from Ian Sangalang and 11 points and five assists from Mark Barroca.

Chris McLaughlin led the losing effort for the Eastern with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes of action.

Glenn Yang added 14 points, five rebounds and four assists and Kobey Lam had 13 points.

Last Saturday, NLEX Road Warriors rode on the hot hands of Robert Bolick to boost their own playoff bid with a 122-110 win over Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.

Bolick’s 40-point explosion led the Road Warriors to two-game winning streak for coach Jong Uichico.

Bolick went 14-of-25 shooting on top of 10 assists, six rebounds and two steals in 41 minutes of action while import Mike Watkins tallied with his own double-double of 25 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks.

Anthony Semerad waxed hot by finishing 17 points on 4-of-7 in the three-point territory and six rebounds while Xyrus Torres contributed 12 points.

Kevin Alas and Javee Mocon chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Deon Thompson spearheaded the losing effort for the E-Painters of coach Yeng Guiao, who dropped to seventh place with a 6-5 win-loss record.

Thompson finished with 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting, 11 rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes, while Jhonard Clarito added 20 points and six rebounds.

Adrian Nocum contributed 16 points, five assists and four rebounds while Santi Santillan had 12 points and six rebounds.

The scores:

Last Saturday

NLEX (122) –Bolick 40, Watkins 25, Semerad 17, Torres 12, Alas 11, Mocon 10, Policarpio 4, Ramirez 3, Herndon 0.
Rain or Shine (110) – Thompson 26, Clarito 20, Nocum 16, Santillan 12, Datu 10, Caracut 8, Tiongson 4, Belga 4, Ildefonso 4, Lemetti 6, Norwood 0.
Quarterscores: 29-23, 65-48, 86-79, 122-110

Magnolia (107) — Ratliffe 25, Lastimosa 20, Lucero 20, Sangalang 14, Barroca 11, Dela Rosa 8, Abueva 5, Alfaro 4, Lee 0, Dionisio 0, Laput 0.
Eastern (78) — McLaughlin 20, Yang 14, Lam 13, Cao 9, Blankley 9, Guinchard 4, Cheung 3, Pok 3, Chan 2, Zhu 1, Xu 0.
Quarterscores: 24-19, 50-31, 78-56, 107-78.

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