Magnolia books 2nd win

PBA 50th anniversary show

MANILA, Philippines —  A golden performance on the PBA’s 50th anniversary gig.

Shifting to high gear in the final period, Magnolia roared to an 83-71 romp over Converge to go 2-0 in the Philippine Cup at the packed Rizal Memorial Coliseum last night.

The Hotshots broke out of a tight contest with a 24-15 salvo in the fourth, leaning heavily on their trademark defense and twin towers Ian Sangalang and Zav Lucero to pull through in the curtain raiser of the league’s birthday offering.

Sangalang and Lucero banged in 18 apiece with the former also grabbing nine rebounds and the latter shooting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc in leading Magnolia to the smashing follow-up to their 106-84 opening rout of Blackwater.

The Hotshots choked the FiberXers to a measly 4-of-17 shooting (23.5 percent) in the final 12 minutes to spark the breakaway.

“Kung maganda ang depensa namin, we have a chance to win,” said coach Chito Victolero.

Magnolia’s defensive wall was laser-focused on Alec Stockton, who managed only eight overall, just a single point in the payoff quarter.

With Stockton bottled up, Schonny Winston and Justin Arana, with 14 each, showed the way for Converge, which dropped to 1-2.

Magnolia picked up a 2-0 card for the first time since the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup, where it started with seven straight wins and eventually made the finals with import Tyler Bey.

Later, San Miguel Beer outdueled holder Meralco, 110-98, in a rematch of the Season 48 finalists with a “retro” feel.

The Beermen, wearing circa 1980s white tops and red shorts, blew a 17-point lead but regrouped in the fourth to fend off the Bolts, fiery in their orange jerseys from the 1970s MICAA.

CJ Perez (29 markers) and June Mar Fajardo (28-10) were at the tip of the SMB attack.