ONE MORE CHANCE. Mark Barroca leads the way as Magnolia stays alive against TNT.
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Mark Barroca steps up big for the Magnolia Hotshots as they live to fight another day in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals
MANILA, Philippines – The Magnolia Hotshots lived to fight another day in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals with a 105-97 Game 5 win over the TNT Tropang Giga at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday, August 12.
With their backs against the wall in the best-of-seven affair, the Hotshots banked on veteran point guard Mark Barroca, who delivered a stellar performance of 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Calvin Abueva also came up huge in the crucial win, backstopping Barroca with an all-around game of 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists as Magnolia cut TNT’s series lead to 3-2.
After a back-and-forth shootout in the opening period, where Magnolia only led by 2 points, 28-26, the Hotshots turned on the jets at the start of the second frame and increased their slim two-point advantage to 13 points, 41-28, off back-to-back triples by Paul Lee and Barroca with 7:50 to play in the quarter.
Barroca, who scored just 5 points in Game 4, paced Magnolia in the first two quarters as he quickly poured in 16 of his game-high 25 points.
In the second half, Magnolia failed to take care of its double-digit cushion as TNT managed to climb back and slice the lead to just 3 points, 80-83, with still 8:40 remaining in the game.
Luckily for the Hotshots, they had all the answers for the Tropang Giga’s fourth-quarter rally as they even pushed their lead back to 11, 105-94, off an Ian Sangalang layup with just 1:01 left to play.
Lee and Sangalang also finished with 16 points apiece for the Hotshots, while Jio Jalalon added 15 points on an efficient 7-of-11 clip from the field.
For the Tropang Giga, Jayson Castro led the way with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, while big men Troy Rosario and Poy Erram contributed 17 and 16 markers, respectively.
The Scores
Magnolia 105 – Barroca 25, Lee 16, Sangalang 16, Abueva 16, Jalalon 15, Dionisio 10, Dela Rosa 3, Reavis 2, Escoto 2, Wong 0.
TNT 97 – Castro 18, Rosario 17, Erram 16, M. Williams 13, Pogoy 13, Khobuntin 12, K. Williams 6, Montalbo 2, Reyes 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.
Quarters: 28-26, 59-45, 81-73, 105-97.
– Rappler.com
