MANILA, Philippines – Mark Barroca can only hope that the Magnolia Hotshots avenge their 76-77 loss to the San Miguel Beermen Sunday, February 4, and if it happens, he wants it at the championship series of the Philippine Cup.

The Hotshots were primed to stretch their winning streak to 6 games as they led by as much as 14 points in the 3^rd quarter, only to falter in the final period. Magnolia, which slid to 6-2, lost its hold of the first place to the Beermen, who now sit atop with a 6-1 record.

Barroca rued that Magnolia played within San Miguel’s pace in the 4^th quarter, which saw the Beermen drop 25 points after scoring just 52 points in the first 3 periods.

“By next time siguro, maano namin ‘yung momentum namin kasi noong huli, momentum na nila ‘yung nilalaro namin kaya nakabalik sila,” said Barroca, who had 21 points and 5 rebounds.

(Maybe next time we can fix our momentum since it is their momentum that we were playing, that is why they came back.)

That next time, however, would mean a clash in the playoffs between the sister teams. And if Barroca would have it his way, the All-Filipino title would be at stake.

“Hopefully,” Barroca said when asked if he sees the Magnolia-San Miguel bout as the finals preview for the conference.

“Kasi sa playoffs, ganito naman lahat ng laro e kasi iba na ‘pag playoffs diba. Dikdikan na masyado ‘yan so ito ineexpect namin sa playoffs. Parang playoffs na rin talaga ito ngayon.”

(In the playoffs, it is usual to see games like this. Close games, these are what we expect in the playoffs. This game is what the playoffs will look like.)

Despite the loss, the former Far Eastern University stalwart is positive for Magnolia heading to the homestretch of the elimination round, primarily because of their stifling defense.

Entering the game, the Beermen averaged 46% from the field in their past 6 outings, never going below 40% and hitting at least 50% in two games. Against the Hotshots, San Miguel shot a conference-low 31.2%.

“Nagdadala talaga depensa, ang baba nga ng score diba. So ‘yung depensa namin nagdadala talaga so positive kami na siguro by next time sila makalaban namin, alam na namin gagawin namin.”

(Defense is our key, you can see that it was a low-scoring game. We are positive that maybe next time that we face each other again, we will know what to do.)

Magnolia will try to return to its winning ways as they face the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters next on February 10. – Rappler.com