Magnolia kept its spotless record intact with a gritty 98-95 overtime escape over San Miguel Beer in the battle of unbeaten teams for a third straight win in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Veteran guard Mark Barroca nailed the go-ahead basket, followed by a dagger jumper with under a minute left in the extension to complete the Hotshots’ comeback from 14 points down to take the solo lead heading into the Holy Week break.

“It’s all about the grit and determination of our players. We’re down by double digits in the third quarter. I told them not to quit and to try to make a run. Good thing our bench players, our second group, delivered the energy and the aggressiveness,” Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero said.

Zav Lucero had 24 points and seven rebounds to lead the Hotshots, who went down 44-58 with 6:57 left in the third canto.

Jerom Lastimosa added 21 markers, Calvin Abueva had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds while Peter Alfaro and Paul Lee scored 11 and 10 markers, respectively.

Barroca only had three points in regulation – all in the first half – before hitting crucial back-to-back jump shots in OT to finish with seven.

Magnolia nibbled away San Miguel’s once-imposing advantage before Ian Sangalang put the Hotshots in front, 86-85, with 44 seconds left in the fourth.

Juami Tiongson gave the Beermen a one-point lead on the other end. Lastimosa had a chance to win the game but missed his first free throw before draining the second to knot it at 87 with 12 seconds left.

Eight-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo missed his jumper in San Miguel’s last possession as time expired.             

Fajardo had 17 points and 17 rebounds, Tiongson scored 17 while Don Trollano and CJ Perez had 16 and 14 markers, respectively, for San Miguel, which slid to a 2-1 record in second place.

The scores:

MAGNOLIA (98) --- Lucero 24, Lastimosa 21, Alfaro 11, Abueva 11, Lee 10, Sangalang 8, Barroca 7, Dela Rosa 4, Reavis 2, Dionisio 0, Laput 0, Ahanmisi 0, Balanza 0, Escoto 0

SAN MIGUEL (95) --- Fajardo 17, Tiongson 17, Trollano 16, Perez 14, Ross 10, Brondial 10, Lassiter 3, Cahilig 3, Tautuaa 3, Cruz 2, Teng 0

Quarters: 18-18, 36-45, 61-67, 87-87, 98-95