PBA: Shabazz Muhammad lifts Magnolia past Terrafirma

Magnolia import Shabazz Muhammad against Terrafirma in the PBA Governors’ Cup. –PBA IMAGES

Shabazz Muhammad scored with 8.1 seconds left in his debut as replacement import and Magnolia survived winless Terrafirma, 99-98, Thursday in Group A of the PBA Governors’ Cup at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Muhammad converted a running left-hander off Andreas Cahilig past the free-throw line to put the Hotshots up before preventing the Dyip from pulling off an upset with a stop on the game’s last possession.

The win kept Magnolia in solo third in its group at 4-3, one game above brewing rivals NorthPort and Converge with similar 3-4 slates.

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Prior to Muhammad’s basket, Paul Lee’s four-pointer was answered by rookie Paolo Hernandez’s triple that gave Terrafirma the lead back by a point.

But Terrafirma couldn’t respond to Muhammad’s shot and fell to 0-7 in the conference while dropping its 19th straight match to Magnolia.

Muhammad put in 20 points and four rebounds as he finally saw action after he was barred from playing in Magnolia’s weekend loss to Meralco in Panabo, Davao del Norte due to the absence of a Fiba clearance.

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Zavier Lucero had 17 points and five rebounds while Calvin Abueva scored 15 on top of seven rebounds, but was not on the floor during the waning moments.

Import Antonio Hester scored 39 points in his second meeting against the team he reinforced in the 2023 Governors’ Cup.