By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
THE Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok defeated the Meralco Bolts, 88-79, in Game One of their best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series on Sunday at the Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU) Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Magnolia used a late surge in the final quarter as a springboard to create distance from Meralco and bag the win to go one up in their Final Four matchup in the ongoing Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tournament.
Big man Ian Sangalang led the way for the Hotshots in the win, finishing with 18 points.
It was a grind-it-out contest for Magnolia and Meralco throughout, with both teams making runs and counter-runs and having it rough and chippy in some moments.
The count stood at 69-all with 7:42 left to play when Magnolia made its move.
Messrs. Sangalang and Calvin Abueva led the Hotshots in going on a 19-5 blast in the next six minutes to build a commanding 14-point lead, 88-74, and they never looked back from there.
Best player of the game Mr. Sangalang also had eight rebounds and five blocks in the victory, with Pau Lee adding 17 points.
Mr. Abueva, foul-plagued for much of the game, had 13 points and seven rebounds while Jio Jalalon and Marc Barroca had 12 and 11 points, respectively.
For Meralco, it was Bong Quinto who top-scored with 14 points, followed by Mac Belo and Anjo Caram with 11 points apiece.
“This is already the semifinals and we expect it to be a grinding series and it’s not going to be easy. Meralco is in the semis for a reason and they are deserving of it. Our mindset is to work hard to be able to win and we did that in this game,” said Mr. Sangalang in the post-game press conference.
Game Two of the series is this week with the official date and time to be announced by the league later.