MANILA, Philippines -- Still alive.
The Magnolia Hotshots grabbed a crucial win in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup after obliterating Hong Kong Eastern, 107-78, Sunday evening at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
With their backs against the wall, the Hotshots lived to fight another day with the 29-point victory.
Ricardo Ratliffe flirted with a triple-double for the Hotshots with 25 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. Jerom Lastimosa and Zav Lucero had 20 markers each, with the former hauling down five rebounds and dishing out four assists, and the latter grabbing nine boards.
Magnolia led by just five, 24-19, heading into the second quarter. But the squad waxed hot, breaking the game wide open with a 22-4 run capped by a Calvin Abueva deuce to double Hong Kong’s scoring output, 46-23.
Magnolia then breezed through to the finish line as Eastern could not cut the lead to single digit.
The Hotshots’ advantage ballooned to as much as 29 points, 107-78, after a triple by Lastimosa.
Ian Sangalang added 14 points and four rebounds, while Mark Barroca had 11.
Chris McLaughlin powered 20 points and 10 rebounds for Hong Kong, while Glen Yang and Kobey Lam had 14 and 13, respectively.
With the win, Magnolia rose to 5-6 in the import-laden conference, winning their second straight game. There is currently a logjam for the coveted seventh and eighth spots in the standings.
Rain or Shine is currently at seventh with a 6-5 win-loss record in the conference, while Magnolia, defending champion San Miguel and NLEX are holding identical 5-6 slates and are at the eighth to 10th seeds.
Eastern, meanwhile, dropped to 7-4.
The Hotshots will finish their elimination round with the most important game of their conference against the Meralco Bolts on Friday, January 31.
Eastern, meanwhile, will take on NLEX on Wednesday.