PBA: Barroca stays positive despite Magnolia’s 51-point outing in loss

Magnolia Hotshots guard Mark Barroca.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Magnolia absorbed one of its worst losses in franchise history in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday but Mark Barroca tried his best to look for a silver lining despite the Hotshots’ poor performance.

The Hotshots struggled mightily, scoring just 51 points in a 23-point whipping handed by the Bolts.

“I honestly don’t know too… They had a good start, we had a bad one, that’s one of the things that happened,” said Barroca in Filipino after tallying five points and five rebounds.

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“We struggled in our offense but even them, they only scored 71. They’re also a defensive team like us, it’s the same. The difference is we couldn’t shoot. We had a lot of open looks but we can’t make the open looks.”

The last time Magnolia was limited to under 60 points was in 2005 when they lost at the hands of defunct Sta. Lucia, 54-53.

To make matters worse for the Hotshots, 51 points were a franchise low.

Magnolia registered a measly 25 percent shooting clip from the field, making only 18 out of its 71 attempts.

Still, Barroca remained optimistic.

“We’re thankful this happened, this struggle. This conference, we’re up and down. We win, we lose, we win and it’s part of our journey. We’ll take it as a positive and a lesson for the team,” said Barroca as his team crashed to a 5-4 card.