PBA Philippine Cup

Barroca joins 5,000-point club as Magnolia draws first blood vs NLEX

Delfin Dioquino

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Barroca joins 5,000-point club as Magnolia draws first blood vs NLEX

MILESTONE. Magnolia veteran Mark Barroca becomes the latest member of the 5,000-point club following his 24-point performance against NLEX.

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Mark Barroca shows the way as Magnolia moves one win away from advancing to the semifinals for the third straight conference

MANILA, Philippines – Mark Barroca notched a new personal milestone and powered Magnolia past NLEX, 98-89, in Game 1 of their PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, July 24.

Barroca churned out a game-high 24 points to go with 7 rebounds and 2 steals on the way to becoming the latest member of the 5,000-point club as the Hotshots drew first blood in the best-of-three affair.

Firing from all cylinders, the veteran guard unloaded 11 of his 18 first-half points in their second-quarter turnaround that saw Magnolia swing a 24-26 deficit to a commanding 64-47 halftime lead.

Barroca then scored his 5,000th point off a bank shot with 7:30 minutes left in the third period to give the Hotshots a 68-55 cushion.

Five more Magnolia players scored in double figures as Calvin Abueva and Paul Lee backstopped Barroca with 13 points apiece off the bench.

The Road Warriors sliced their deficit to just 7 points with less than two minutes left, 89-96, but Abueva crushed their comeback hopes with the win-sealing dunk off an Aris Dionisio steal.

Abueva also finished with 8 rebounds, Ian Sangalang posted 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, while Jio Jalalon put up all-around numbers of 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists as the Hotshots’ starting guard.

Jackson Corpuz added 10 points and 6 rebounds for Magnolia, which stretched its winning streak to eight games and moved one victory away from advancing to the semifinals for the third straight conference.

Tony Semerad paced NLEX with 19 points and 6 rebounds, but not even his finest offensive game of the tournament could get the Road Warriors past the sizzling Hotshots.

NLEX also badly missed the services of star guard Kevin Alas, who sat out with a hamstring injury.

Calvin Oftana and Don Trollano fired 15 points each in the losing effort.

The Scores

Magnolia 98 – Barroca 24, Lee 13, Abueva 13, Sangalang 12, Jalalon 10, Corpuz 10, Dela Rosa 6, Wong 5, Dionisio 3, Reavis 2, Escoto 0.

NLEX 89 – Semerad 19, Oftana 15, Trollano 15, Nieto 12, Chua 11, Quinahan 8, Paniamogan 3, Soyud 2, Varilla 2, Ighalo 2.

Quarters: 24-26, 64-47, 81-70, 98-89.

– Rappler.com

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Delfin Dioquino

Delfin Dioquino dreamt of being a PBA player, but he did not have the skills to make it. So he pursued the next best thing to being an athlete – to write about them. He took up journalism at the University of Santo Tomas and joined Rappler as soon as he graduated in 2017.