Vernon Macklin will be leaving for China a loved man by the slew of Magnolia fans as he sealed a 81-79 victory for the Hotshots with two crucial free throws down the stretch in their PBA Commissioner's Cup 2018 bout against the Meralco Bolts Friday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Trailing, 79-72, with less than two minutes left in the game, the Hotshots played the free-throw game and did their own version of Hack-a-Shaq on Bolts' import Arinze Onuaku and "luckily" prevailed after Chris Newsome failed to convert a potential game-tying alley-oop off an inbounds play.
"This is a big game for us, and it's great to win my last game," said Macklin, who, with his Best Player of the Game numbers, 21 points and 15 rebounds, helped Magnolia bag their third straight win for a 3-1 win-loss record heading into the All-Star Break.
The Hotshots now sit at second place in the standings together with the Alaska Aces behind Rain or Shine and Talk N' Text, while the Bolts dropped to the middle of the pack with a 3-2 card.
"Medyo sinuwerte lang nu'ng dulo, pero this is a good win and a statement game for us," said Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero in a post-match interview.
"Magandang panalo ito bago kami pumunta sa break," he added as the team is set to announce a replacement for Macklin over the weekend.
Paul Lee contributed 6 assists and 20 points, including his game-tying free throws with 32 seconds left to tie the game 79-all after fishing a foul on Bolts' energizer Cliff Hodge, who exited the game hobbling after the two lost their balance and tumbled on the floor.
Marc Barroca added 18 points and three assists. Everybody else for Magnolia didn't reach double-digits.
The Bolts, however, had the chance to send the match into overtime with three seconds still left on the clock, but Chris Newsome could not add two more to his 15-point tally as he botched an easy lay-in when he found himself all alone in the air after a well-devised play off of a timeout.
Former Commissioner's Cup best import Onuaku couldn't make his free throws when it mattered most, ruing his 5 for 21 shooting from the stripe, but made productive use of his 44 minutes on the floor with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists.