Paul Lee stars as Hotshots repulse Beermen to stay on top

Paul Lee drained two clutch triples and then finished the job with 2 free throws to lead Magnolia past San Miguel, 85-80, Wednesday night in the elimination round of the PBA Season 47 Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The 33-year old Lee, who was struggling prior to the payoff period, finished with 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting with 3-of-6 coming from beyond the arc. He also had 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 28 minutes of action as the Hotshots picked up their 3rd straight win to stay on top with an 8-1 record.

The Beermen, meanwhile, dropped to 10th spot in the team standings with their 5th loss in 8 outings.

“Sinwerte lang kami sa dulo kasi key naman talaga namin doon is yung depensa namin. It’s not ‘yung na-score ko sa dulo offensively, ‘yung factor doon is how we stopped papunta doon sa offense namin,” said Lee shortly after the match.

“Yun yung pinaka key doon kung bakit kami nanalo. We limited them to 80 points, yun naman yung target namin. Nakuha naman namin ‘yun,” he added.

Nick Rakocevic paced the 2014 PBA Grand Slam champions with a huge double-double of 26 points and 28 rebounds to go with 3 steals and a block. Ian Sangalang and Mark Barroca scored 12 points apiece with the former adding 14 boards to his tally.

Devon Scott led the Beermen with 19 points and 17 rebounds while the trio of Marcio Lassiter, CJ Perez and Vic Manuel chipped in 16 markers each.

The Hotshots will go for win number 9 when they take on guest team Bay Arena on Saturday, November 19, 6:45pm at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

The scores:

Magnolia 85 – Rakocevic 26, Lee 14, Sangalang 12, Barroca 12, Jalalon 6, Abueva 5, Wong 4, Dela Rosa 2, Corpuz 2, Ahanmisi 2, Laput 0, Dionisio 0.

San Miguel 80 – Scott 19, Lassiter 16, Perez 16, Manuel 16, Tautuaa 6, Ross 3, Herndon 2, Brondial 2, Enciso 0, Cruz 0.

Quarterscores: 23-25, 37-37, 65-60, 85-80.