Dionisio nails 9 triples as Magnolia enters quarterfinals

Magnolia completed the quarterfinals cast in Group A after eliminating feisty NorthPort, 110-94, in an all-Filipino showdown in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Aris Dionisio made it rain from the three-point area with nine connections to star in the sharpshooting Hotshots’ formal entry into the playoffs.

The sniper dropped a career-high 30 points on a 10-of-13 field goal clip including a 9-of-11 shooting from the trifecta for Magnolia, which took advantage of the Batang Pier missing injured reinforcement Venky Jois.    

The Hotshots, which also opted to sit out Shabazz Muhammad to rest his injured knee, hiked their win-loss record to 5-4 tied with idle Converge.

Magnolia’s victory gave the FiberXers a free ride into the next round to join top seed defending champion TNT (7-2) and Meralco (6-3).

“This is the most important game for us because this is the game that we need to win in order for us to go into the quarters,” Hotshots coach Chito Victolero said.

“I’m very proud of the boys because they bounced back hard coming from a sorry loss (to TNT) last time.”

Zavier Lucero had a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds while Joseph Eriobu and Calvin Abueva added 13 and 12 markers, respectively, for Magnolia.  

The Hotshots were ahead for most of the match but NorthPort made it a little interesting with under two minutes left when it trimmed down its deficit to just 11.

Victolero was forced to send his starters back including Dionisio, who nailed his final trey to restore order.

The Batang Pier absorbed their third defeat in a row for a 3-6 card.

Arvin Tolentino scored 25 points while Damie Cuntapay and Jio Jalalon added 13 and 11 markers, respectively, for NorthPort.   

Box scores:

MAGNOLIA (110) --- Dionisio 30, Lucero 16, Eriobu 13, Abueva 12, Sangalang 10, Lee 9, Dela Rosa 9, Barroca 7, Ahanmisi 4, Mendoza 0, Escoto 0, Balanza 0, Laput 0

NORTHPORT (94) --- Tolentino 25, Cuntapay 13, Jalalon 11, Flores 8, Amores 8, Munzon 6, Navarro 6, Onwubere 6, Tratter 4, Bulanadi 4, Taha 2, Nelle 1, Yu 0

Quarters: 29-13, 57-35, 83-61, 110-94