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MANILA, Philippines–Magnolia leaned on an early balanced scoring and wielded that as a weapon to dominate San Miguel Beer, 118-82, in a rematch with their tormentor in last conference’s Finals series Wednesday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We had a great motivation going into this game,” coach Chito Victolero said. “My challenge to my players was to avenge ourselves here in the elimination round.”
“The extra effort, the energy—I can not ask for more. If there was a 101 percent performance, this was it,” he added.
Import James Farr figured as the spearhead of the Hotshots’ offense, scoring 19 points to go with 18 rebounds. Mark Barroca and Jio Jalalon played with sustained brilliance, tossing in 17 and 16, respectively, to help Magnolia notch its fourth straight victory and improve to 4-2 in the Commissioner’s Cup.
The undermanned San Miguel Beer leaned on the interior presence of reinforcement Charles Rhodes, who registered 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Christian Standhardinger, who added 16 and 11.
Marcio Lassiter was the only other double-digit performer for the Beermen, who dropped to 2-4.
Magnolia will try to further extend its hot run in the midseason conference when it plays Meralco at Mayor Vitaliano Agan Coliseum in Zamboanga City this Saturday.
San Miguel Beer, meanwhile, looks to exploit Columbian’s three-game slump and tab a victory for a return to the win column this Sunday again at the Big Dome.
POST-GAME INTERVIEW