By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Ian Sangalang played hero ball once again for the Magnolia Hotshots and scored the buzzer-beating bucket against the Alaska Aces, 84-82, in one of the most thrilling games of the PBA’s 46th season.
Deadlocked at 82 with 18 seconds left in the ball game, coach Chito Victolero got what he wanted from his boys as they executed the game-winning play.
As Jio Jalalon surveyed the court at the top of the key, the play began to develop when the curling Mark Barocca received the pass on the left elbow, fed the freed Paul Lee off the screen who found the open Sangalang underneath for a drop pass.
Soon as Lee drove to the basket, several Alaska players then swarmed to him including Yousif Taha who was supposed to pin down Sangalang in the paint.
It was a nip-and-tuck affair the whole game as both teams traded scoring runs which resulted in eight lead changes in the game.
Alaska was up 82-80, with one minute left in the game after Bobby Herndon sank a long three-point bomb at the top of the key.
However, Sangalang began to take over and scored the last four points of the Hotshots to help them grab top honors in the league with a 2-0 record.
Sangalang finished the game with monster numbers of 26 points, five rebounds, and two blocks while Lee chipped in 16 and Barroca with 10.
Meanwhile, the Alaska squad was led by Taha’s 20 points followed by Abu Tratter and Jeron Teng’s 10-point production.
