Magnolia trips Meralco, gets 1st win in PBA Govs’ Cup

Sports

THE Magnolia Hotshots are winless no more after they grounded the Meralco Bolts, 112-98, on Friday night, July 24, at the Araneta Coliseum.

Magnolia ended a winless start, finally winning after back-to-back losses behind import KJ Buffen, who finished with 26 points.

Buffen, who also tallied 12 rebounds and five assists, unloaded 22 of his total output in the first half, enabling the Hotshots to dictate the tempo of the match that saw them lead at the end of each of the four quarters.

Zavier Lucero finished what Buffen started as the youthful big man scored 17 points in the final after scoring just three in the first two quarters.

Lucero also tallied 11 boards.

Ian Sangalang aded 16 points and Mark Barroca had 14 for the balanced Magnolia.

Meralco’s two-game run was snapped as it fell to 2-2 (win-loss) despite getting 28 points and 10 rebounds from Antonio Hester.

THE SCORES:

MAGNOLIA (112) – Buffen 26, Lucero 20, Sangalang 16, Barroca 14, Lastimosa 13, Dela Rosa 9, Lee 6, Jopia 4, Alfaro 4, Andrada 0, Verano 0, Koon 0.

MERALCO (98) – Hester 28, Cansino 12, Quinto 11, Black 10, Newsome 9, Banchero 7, Hodge 6, Maliksi 6, Brickman 5, Mocon 2, Bates 2.QUARTERSCORES: 31-20; 60-55; 84-77; 112-98.(CCM)