VETERAN Ian Sangalang came through with a career-high 32 points and 13 rebounds as Magnolia Chicken Timplados brought down NorthPort, 104-97, in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium last Wednesday.

Sangalang struck hardest in the second half as he scored 22 points to help the Hotshots roll back the Batang Pier and snap a two-game losing skid.

“Thank God nakabawi kami kahit kulang kami sa tao. Our back is against the wal. Natalo na kami back-to-back at mahirap matalo ng tatlong sunud-sunod,” said Sangalang, who surpassed his previous best of 29 points netted in a 105-103 win over San Miguel in Game 1 of the Philippine Cup finals in 2018.

“Alam namin sa ligang ito kahit sino puwede kaming talunin. So siguro it’s a wake-up call sa amin yung dalawang sunod na talo namin,” added Sangalang referring to Magnolia’s losses to Barangay Ginebra (77-87) and NLEX (74-87).

Sangalang also became only the fourth player in Season 48 to post a 30-10 double-double after Rain or Shine’s Leonard Santillan (31 points, 14 rebounds), NorthPort’s Arvin Tolentino (31 points, 11 assists) and NLEX’s Robert Bolick (30 points, 15 assists).

Backing up Sangalang were James Laput (14 points), Paul Lee (13 points), Jerric Ahanmisi (13 points), Mark Barroca (12 points, 10 assists) and Calvin Abueva ( six points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists).

Magnolia coach Chito Victolero said the team had a lengthy talk about their previous two losses.

“Sa dalawang talo namin we limited our opponents under-90 pero hindi naman kami naka-score. Our problem the last two games was our offense. So we talked about improving our ball movement. We averaged 16 assists in those losses, short of our target of 22 to 24. Tonight we had 31,” said Victolero.

Zavier Lucero paced NorthPort with 18 points, followed by Fran Yu with 15, and Arvin Tolentino with 14.

The Batang Pier dropped to 4-4.

The scores:

Magnolia (104) — Sangalang 32, Laput 14, Ahanmisi 13, Lee 13, Barroca 12, Mendoza 7, Abueva 6, Eriobu 3, Escoto 2, Tratter 1, Jalalon 1, Murrell 0.
NorthPort (97) — Lucero 18, Yu 15, Tolentino 14, Munzon 11, Zamar 9, Navarro 9, Rosales 8, Paraiso 8, Flores 5, Calma 0, Adamos 0, Bulanadi 0.
Quarterscores: 23-22, 46-45, 78-73, 104-97.

Games Friday:

(Philsports Arena)
4:30 p.m. — Converge vs. Phoenix
7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs. Blackwater