RAMPAGING Magnolia shifted to high gear in the third quarter and broke away en route to a 103-83 rout of Phoenix Super LPG in the PBA Governors' Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Saturday.
Still minus injury-hit forwards Calvin Abueva and Rome dela Rosa, the Hotshots found free-agent recruit Adrian Wong coming through with a breakout game as the team stayed unbeaten in six games.
Practically assured of a spot in the post-elims play, the Hotshots vowed to still push their drive in a bid for a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Coach Chito Victolero said the goal is to further develop consistency and character of a team that enjoys playing defense.
That's what they talked about in their pre-game huddle, and that's what they applied in the game as they stopped the Fuel Masters on their tracks and handed them a third loss against four wins.
"We learned from our last two games. Although we won against TNT, it's pretty obvious that we're not consistent in our effort for 48 minutes. Against NLEX, we finished strong but we're bad at the start," said Victolero.
"Going to the latter part of the conference, we have to improve on everything - consistency on everything we want to do including playing tough defense," he added.
With their lockdown defense and sudden explosion in the third, the Hotshots won the game pulling away.
They were ahead just by five, 39-34, at the half before igniting a fiery run to open a 75-54 spread going to the payoff period. They led by as big as 25 in their third-quarter assault.
Mike Harris didn't need to play extended minutes, but still produced double-double numbers with 20 points and 13 rebounds as against nine markers and eight boards of Phoenix counterpart Dominique Sutton.
Wong started at small forward spot and responded with a performance to remember, firing 18 markers on 6-of-7 three-pointers.
"We're very happy for him that he had his breakout game in his third year in the league. Good thing nakuha namin siya. Madami kaming injured players and he filled a spot," said Victolero.
"Meron naman talagang laro yung bata. (Today) we asked him to play defense and to defend the best player (Matthew Wright) on the other side. He did his job at bonus na lang yung point production niya," Victolero added. (SB)
The scores:
Magnolia 103 - Harris 20, Wong 18, Lee 14, Barroca 13, Escoto 9, Corpuz 8, Reavis 6, Sangalang 6, Ahanmisi 5, Jalalon 4, Dionisio 0, Brill 0.
Phoenix 83 - Wright 18, Robles 15, Sutton 9, Manganti 9, Demusis 8, Garcia 8, Perkins 6, Melecio 5, Jazul 3, Chua 2, Camacho 0, Rios 0, Pascual 0.
Quarters: 21-20, 39-34, 75-54, 103-83.(PBA)
(Photo credits to: PBA)