WHIFF OF FRESH AIR
Magnolia didn’t have to look too far for the very best reason to win on Friday night. It has been bugging them throughout the Holidays.
After losing five of their first seven games and with their playoff hopes starting to dim, the Hotshots pulled out all the stops at Ninoy Aquino Stadium to turn back Terrafirma, 89-84, and stay somewhat afloat in advancing past the elimination phase of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
“Everyone could see how our (past) games have turned out. We’ve lost a lot of tough ones,” said Zav Lucero, whose 17 points and clutch free throws near the end helped tow the struggling powerhouse to a much-needed win to improve to 3-5. “We’ve got to win games—no more better fuel than that.
“It’s either we win or go home, pretty much so.”
“Credit (goes) to the players. There’s been pressure, but they were there to execute on both ends of the floor,” added coach Chito Victolero, whose charges were still licking the wounds from a heartbreaker against Barangay Ginebra last Christmas Day.
Lucero put the finishing touches on the hot start of import Ricardo Ratliffe, who, according to Victolero, was finally playing at optimal form after fully recovering from a shoulder problem he sustained in Magnolia’s narrow loss to Converge last Dec. 1.
The Magnolia reinforcement delivered 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, as Lucero, Ian Sangalang, and Jerom Lastimosa’s gave him valuable support with twin-digit outputs that helped the Hotshots prevail even without star gunner Paul Lee, who it sat out due to a knee (meniscus) issue.
‘No excuses’
“Really, it’s easy to play with him. So I just try to find my opportunities around him and the rest of the guys as well,” Lucero said of their American-South Korean import.
“[It was] ‘No excuses’ for Ricardo. The medical staff had been doing a good job handling his injury,” Victolero said. “Right now, I think he’s 100 percent and that’s good for us.”
Stanley Pringle led the way for Terrafirma with 22 points, while import Brandon Edwards and Kevin Ferrer added 14 and 11, respectively, as the Dyip dropped to their ninth loss, officially snuffing out any chances of advancing to the next round.
Former scoring champion Terrence Romeo finally played his first game with the league doormat but was only able to chip in three points in nearly 14 minutes.
Victolero said that Lee is expected to be cleared on Jan. 16 at the earliest, but that could be moved to the 26th when his crew plays guest squad Hong Kong Eastern.
That also means the crafty scorer won’t be available when Magnolia takes on corporate sibling San Miguel, which at 3-4 remains just a shade outside of the qualifying threshold for the playoffs.
“It’s gonna be a battle. Both teams need to win,” Victolero said. “They’re also in the middle, so it’s going to be a dogfight on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, sister squads Meralco and NLEX were battling it out at press time, with the Bolts trying to stay in the middle of the pack.
The Road Warriors, on the other hand, came into the game with a three-game losing streak and would need to win one just to stay inside the circle of teams that will make it past this round.
