Magnolia stayed alive in the race for a quarterfinals seat after dominating Hong Kong Eastern, 107-78, in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup Sunday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The Hotshots clamped down on defense in the first half to pull away and kept their safe distance the rest of the way for a 5-6 win-loss record.

Ricardo Ratliffe muscled his way to a near triple-double with 25 points off 9-of-18 field goal shooting, 16 rebounds and seven assists to lead Magnolia to its second straight victory. He also has two steals and one block.

Rookie Jerom Lastimosa and Zav Lucero added 20 points each while Ian Sangalang and Mark Barroca scored 14 and 11 points, respectively, for the Hotshots.

Magnolia made life miserable for the quarters-bound Eastern as the guest team shot only 44.3 percent from the field and misfired from the three-point area with just 4-of-21 clip.

The Hotshots forced Eastern to commit 21 turnovers which they converted 21 turnover points.

“We tried approaching this game with a sense of urgency and a proper mindset. That’s our goal, to play good defense with our backs against the wall. We are in a do-or-die situation so we went to our strength, which is defense,” Magnolia coach Chito Victolero said.

The Hotshots bench also did their part in ensuring that they will remain on track in their redemption campaign after a runner-up finish in last year’s edition of the tournament.

“The goal is to survive and now we live to fight another day. We will try to prepare again for our next game,” Victolero said.

Magnolia will face Meralco on Friday in the elims final playdate.

Eastern slipped to a 7-4 card tied with Barangay Ginebra, squandering their chances of securing a quarters twice-to-beat advantage.