Hotshots remain winless after 93-85 loss to Tropang Giga

Magnolia remained winless in 2 starts after losing to TNT, 93-85, Friday night in the PBA Season 47 Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

The Hotshots trailed by as much as 16 points but were able to cut the deficit down to 2 following a layup by Mark Barroca with 4:10 remaining on the game clock. The Tropang Giga, however, rattled off an 8-0 run to restore a double-digit advantage and put the Chito Victolero-mentored squad away for good.

The flagship team of the MVP group improved to 3-1 while the 2018 Governors’ Cup champs fell to 0-2.

Roger Pogoy led the charge for the Tropang Giga with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting to go with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in 37 minutes of play.

“Right now, Roger is probably the best two-way player in the league. His offense is humming right now,” said TNT head coach Jojo Lastimosa during the post-game presser.

“We played a lot smarter today than against NLEX. The NLEX game was a lesson learned. And that proved that our guys are good students. They stayed aggressive and played solid basketball up to the end,” added the former Purefoods and Alaska player.

Paul Lee paced the Hotshots with 24 big points on 8-of-17 shooting with 6-of-12 coming from 3-point country. The 33-year old star guard out of UE also contributed 7 boards and 2 dimes in 33 minutes of action.

Eric McCree was a disappointment as the one-time member of the Utah Jazz managed to score only 12 points in 42 minutes. He also tallied 16 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, 3 blocks and a game-high 8 turnovers which is just 1 less than the total turnovers of TNT.

Calvin Abueva finished with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists while Jio Jalalon was the only other Hotshot to score in double figures with 10.

Magnolia will attempt to break into the win column when they clash with streaking San Miguel on Sunday, February 5, 4:30pm at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The scores:

TNT 93 – Pogoy 20, M.Williams 14, Hudson 14, Oftana 14, K.Williams 11, Castro 9, Khobuntin 4, Chua 4, Tungcab 3, Varilla 0, Montalbo 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.

Magnolia 85 – Lee 24, McCree 12, Abueva 12, Jalalon 10, Escoto 8, Wong 6, Barroca 5, Dionisio 4, Dela Rosa 2,Corpuz 2, Ahanmisi 0.

Quarterscores: 18-21, 52-39, 75-64, 93-85