MARK BARROCA and Magnolia aren’t done yet as the Bolts beat the TNT Tropang Giga, 105-97, in Game 5 of their Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup semifinals series on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After back-to-back losses that put the Hotshots behind in the best-of-seven series, the 5-foot-10 Barroca and the Hotshots found their rhythm and with a strong first half performance, narrowed their gap with the reigning champions.
The former Far Eastern University combo guard nailed nine of his 25 points—he went 9 of 16 from the field—in the second quarter where Magnolia erupted with a blazing 31-19 run enough to bury the Tropang Giga, 59-45, at the half.
“It’s good that Jayson Castro, Mikey Williams and Roger Pogoy didn’t score big one after the other. It’s only Jayson who’s scoring, so Jio [Jalalon] and I just took care of him,” Barroca said. “It is going to be tough to stop them if all of them are scoring.”
The Hotshots banked on their tenacious defensive in the second half to prevent TNT from getting into the game.
“We lived for another day but there’s no reason to celebrate because we’re still down in the series,” Magnolia Coach Chito Victolero said.
Calvin Abueva finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Ian Sangalang and Paul Lee added 16 points for the Hotshots.
Jio Jalalon had 15 points and Aris Dionisio made 10 points for Magnolia.
Castro, who scored the game-winning triple in Game 3, posted 18 points and Troy Rosario added 17 points for TNT, which will try to close out the series on Sunday at the same venue.
Converge, meanwhile, formally introduced Aldin Ayo as the FiberXers head coach replacing Jeffrey Cariaso.