The Magnolia Hotshots took control early and put away the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 109-98, on Sunday in the 2021 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig.
Import Mike Harris delivered 23 points for the Hotshots as they marched to their second straight triumph. His lone charity and Ian Sangalang’s driving layup in the last 33 seconds of the first period set the tone for the Hotshots early as they slowly moved out of range, 34-31.
With contributions from their second unit in the second period, the Hotshots went on to nurse a 55-48 halftime spread.
Harris struck again with 10 points in the third canto as the Hotshots took an 11-point spread, 86-73.
Calvin Abueva, who had 18 points, widened the Hotshots’ edge to 14, with 4:58 left in the third period, 74-60.
Jio Jalalon, playing his best game so far, had 14 points and 10 rebounds, with his two freebies in the final 7:40 handing the Hotshots an 18-point spread, 96-78.
“We wanted to control the pace of the game. I told my players that we need to have that mental toughness because we knew that this is going to be a physical game,” said Hotshots’ coach Chito Victolero.
Import William Henry Walker and Rey Nambatac tallied 23 points each for the Elasto Painters, who picked up their second loss in four games.
Meanwhile, the fight for a top 10 finish and the final leg championship are on the line when the PBA 3×3 Lakas Ng Tatlo resumes Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Teams are expected to go all-out in the two-day competition for Leg 6 of the three-a-side tournament presented by 1Pacman Party List, in a bid to advance in the conference’s grand finale set on Dec. 29 also at the Big Dome.
Only the top 10 teams at the conclusion of the six-leg event will compete for the P1.1 million event, where the champion team receives the top prize of P750,000.
So far already assured of progressing are Leg 2 winner and twice runner-up Meralco, which is on top with 370 accumulated points, followed by maiden leg champion TNT (340), Leg 4 titlist Purefoods TJ Titans (300), and guest team Platinum Karaoke (290).
All the rest remains in the running including bottom teams Barangay Ginebra, NorthPort, and Zamboanga Valientes.
Previous leg winner Limitless App also tries to win in back-to-back fashion as it opens its campaign right away in Pool A.
The Appmasters, composed of Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Jorey Napoles, Reymar Caduyac, and Marvin Hayes, clash with Pioneer Pro Tibay at 2 p.m. in the first of another heavy 16-game schedule on opening day of pool play.
In another Pool A game at 2:25 p.m., Platinum Karaoke takes on Zamboanga Valientes, before Purefoods faces San Miguel to open hostilities in Pool B at 2:50 p.m.
Terrafirma versus Sista Super Sealers go up against each other in Pool C action at 3:15 p.m., while Cavitex makes its debut opposite Pioneer at 3:40 p.m. in Pool A.
Four teams then play their first game in succession, with TNT battling NorthPort at 4:30 p.m. (Pool B), followed by Meralco versus Barangay Ginebra at 4:55 p.m. (Pool C).
Games are open to the public, but live audience will be required to bring along their vaccination card (fully vaccinated) and a valid government ID.
Action resumes the following day (Dec. 21) with six more pool plays on tap, before the top eight teams progress to the knockout stage.
