By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Magnolia Hotshots claimed the solo top spot in the PBA Philippine Cup with an undefeated 4-0 start after demolishing the Terrafirma Dyip, 105-83.
Head coach Chito Victolero and his boys stuck with their same principles and played tremendous defense topped with their properly executed offensive sets.
Ian Sangalang was dominant once again and owned the shaded area against Terrafirma’s long and big bodies.
The skilled center finished the ball game with 18 points on an impressive 8/13 from the field with no turnovers committed.
Magnolia faced an early scare after superstar Paul Lee went down in the second quarter holding on to his hamstring area.
Lee would continue to sit on the bench and was ruled out for the rest of the game but his injury was still not disclosed by the medical team.
Meanwhile, the Terrafirma squad showed some signs of life in the third quarter after cutting Magnolia’s double-digit lead to just eight.
Juami Tiongson was draining his usual one-legged floaters at will while Roosevelt Adams also picked up his three-point shooting to enter the last quarter with momentum on their side.
However, Magnolia began the last frame with a quick 7-0 burst, causing disarray once again on the Terrafirma bench.
Magnolia would continue to fire from all cylinders led by rookie Jerrick Ahanmisi who drained four of his eight attempts from downtown to finish the game with 15, his best scoring output for his team so far.
