Jerom Lastimosa sparks Magnolia's late pullaway vs. Phoenix

Jerom Lastimosa dropped his best game in his PBA career after leading Magnolia to a crucial 115-101 win against Phoenix in the Season 50 Governors' Cup on Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The 5-foot-11 guard erupted for a career-high 30 points, including 12 in the fourth-quarter surge that fueled the Hotshots’ revenge win over their first-round tormentors Fuel Mastersand created a two-way tie with them at 4-3 in Group B.

Magnolia's import KJ Buffen also had a PBA career-high game with 35 points laced with 10 rebounds and three blocks while Mark Barroca posted a conference-high of 21 markers as Magnolia now cruised to its third straight win after losing three of their first four games.

"Actually they responded after their third-quarter run. Usually, 'pag nagkakaro'n ng third quarter 'yung kalaban namin, we get deflated or natataranata kami," Magnolia head coach LA Tenorio said.

"But in today's game, they stayed positive and I always tell during timeouts na we need to get stops. We were really struggling offensively but I always reminded them there's always going to be struggle sa opensa pero sa depensa, we shouldn't struggle."

After Tenorio’s call, the Hotshots answered in the fourth quarter by unleashing a relentless defense and holding Phoenix scoreless from the field for nearly eight minutes.

During that stretch, Lastimosa took care of the offense by converting back-to-back three-point plays before Buffen and Barroca added a basket each to give Magnolia a 98-86 cushion.

Phoenix finally ended its field-goal drought at the 4:48 mark of the fourth when Ricci Rivero knocked down a jumper, but the bucket failed to spark a Fuel Masters comeback.

The Hotshots responded with a 14-9 run, capped by a Barroca three-pointer, before Zav Lucero completed a three-point play of his own to put the game away.

Scores:

Magnolia 115 – Buffen 35, Lastimosa 30, Barroca 21, Sangalang 10, Lucero 9, Andrada 5, Alfaro 3, Dela Rosa 2, Jopia 0, lee 0, Koon 0.

Phoenix 101 – Johnson 37, Rivero 16, Tuffin 12, Ballungay 12, Mamuyac 10, Tio 7, Santos 3, Escandor 2, Chua 2, Perkins 0, Delos Santos 0, Reavis 0.

Quarters: 28-33, 60-49, 82-84, 115-101.

—JKC, GMA News