Magnolia beats San Miguel but falls again to No. 7

Magnolia defeated San Miguel Beer, 101-97, Saturday night but the win was not enough to avoid being in a difficult situation before the quarter-finals of the Cup 2018 PBA Commissions.

The Hotshots earn at least 14 points for not slipping to seventh place and being in a situation of double disadvantage against No. 2 Alaska in the first round of the playoffs playoffs.

"Entering the playoffs is a good match and a good win for us. We know that it is not easy to go in the playoffs. "We have faced a lot of challenges, injuries and changes to the import," said Chito Victolero, head coach of Magnolia in the Philippines.

This was not the desired result by Magnolia but Victolero was still happy to win. a good last game for us because we are able to get our character. It's always good to win so we can not say that we're not happy because we won. We tried to gain 14 points, but this victory allows us to gain momentum in the playoffs.

The Hotshots led to eight, 90-82, but the Beermen managed to keep them at a safe distance.

Wayne Chism propelled Magnolia with 21 points and 14 rebounds while Ian Sangalang also recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, Paul Lee also scored 14.

Renaldo Balkman scored 31 points, while June Mar Fajardo added 18 points and 12 rebounds to the Beermen.

The quarter-finals begin on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with a pair of best-of-three matches, while Merlco faces Barangay Ginebra in the main match.

The other quarterfinal matches start on Tuesday with a clash between Rainforest and Alaska horns with Magnolia

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