MANILA – Magnolia Hotshots survived a furious run by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to escape with a 94-91 victory in Game 4 of the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup semifinals last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Leading by as much as 21 points, the Hotshots suddenly saw their deficit trimmed to as low as 92-91 before Magnolia got away with a series tying win on two free throws by Jio Jalalon.
Ian Sangalang finished with double-double 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Paul Lee and Jalalon contributed 15 and 12 markers, respectively, for the Hotshots, which tied the series count at 2-2.
The Hotshots opened the match with a 10-3 lead on two triples by Andy Mark Barroca but the Painters came close at 14-18 before Magnolia pulled away anew at 28-20 on shots by Lee and Rome dela Rosa.
The Painters tried to come close again in the second quarter at five points but the Hotshots got conversions from Lee, Dela Rosa and Sangalang to establish a 56-37 halftime lead.
Rain or Shine rallied to as close as 15 points early in the third but Magnolia got answers from Lee, Sangalang, Jalalon and Rafael Reavis as the lead reached its largest at 21 points.
The Painters, however, were fired up with the ejection of head coach Carlos Garcia in the fourth and mounted a spirited run from James Yap and Javee Mocon and went to trim the deficit to as low as one point.
Yap finished the game with 24 points, while Mocon and Gabriel Norwood submitted 14 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Painters, which dropped its last two games after winning Games 1 and 2./PN
