MANILA – Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots kept their quarterfinals hopes alive with a dominant 129-92 victory over Meralco Bolts in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup last night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
Ricardo Ratliffe tallied a double-double of 31 points and 19 rebounds, Zavier Lucero added 22 markers, Ian Sangalang and Andy Mark Barroca contributed 18 points apiece, and Calvin Abueva chipped in 14 for the Hotshots.
With a 6-6 win-loss record, the Hotshots will face either Rain or Shine Elasto Painters or NLEX Road Warriors in a knockout game for the eighth and last quarterfinals seat on Sunday.
Holding to a slim 35-28 lead after the opening quarter, the Hotshots outscored the Bolts in the second quarter, 38-19, to establish a massive 73-47 advantage at the half.
The Hotshots continued their offensive onslaught in the second half as the lead reached its largest at 37 points at 129-92 on conversions from Jerom Lastimosa and James Laput.
“That’s our calling card, defense. We’re backs-against-the-wall, we’re in a do-or-die situation, so we go to our strength, which is our defense,” Hotshots head coach Chito Victolero pointed out after the game.
“We kept on doing that, we kept on practicing, we want to clean up everything dun sa mistakes namin, sa mga kulang namin,” he added. “The goal is to survive. Now we live another day and we will try to prepare again for our next game.”
Raymond Almazan finished with 23 points to lead the way for the Bolts, while rookie forward CJ Cansino contributed 11 markers in the loss.
The Bolts, which will tangle with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in a best-of-three quarterfinals series, played for the second straight game without import Akil Mitchell due to back spasms./PN
