DEMOLITION MEN: Lucero leads Magnolia’s destruction of Terrafirma

Games Wednesday:

(Ninoy Aquino Stadium)

5 p.m. — Blackwater vs Rain or Shine

7:30 p.m. — Barangay Ginebra vs NLEX

Magnolia just needed one quarter to straighten out Terrafirma as the Hotshots rolled to a rousing 127-94 victory Sunday night and remained unbeaten in five outings in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The Hotshots were so dominant that all 15 players on the bench scored with Jerrick Balanza becoming the last man to light up the scoreboard with a triple.

Magnolia led since the four-minute mark of the opening quarter and had a field day finding the bottom of the net.

A 23-0 tear in the second quarter was all the Hotshots needed to take control of the match, turning a four-point advantage into a 54-27 spread.

Magnolia didn’t look back from there.

“Of course, very happy that everybody stepped up. Everybody contributed,” Victolero said.

“That’s how our system works. We want to go-hard every time we step on the court. Give our 100 percent and the players coming off the bench are ready to play. It showed in the game,” he added.

Zavier Lucero led the Hotshots with 17 points and nine rebounds while Paul Lee scored 13.

The Hotshots went behind by four with four minutes left in the first period before unleashing a 12-6 rally to close the quarter and take a two-point advantage.

Then, the separation, which turned into a full-blown rout, happened in the second canto, where Magnolia created a 33-point gap that very much spelled doom for the Dyip.

Jerick Ahanmisi and Joseph Eriobu added 11 points each while James Laput had nine points for the Hotshots.

Jerom Lastimosa, Ian Sangalang, Rome dela Rosa, Calvin Abueva and Balanza, who saw action for only nine minutes — all in the fourth — finished with eight points each for Magnolia, which shot 51 percent from the field and outrebounded Terrafirma, 66-27.

The Hotshots’ bench mob accounted for most of the team’s total output with 97 points compared to the Dyip’s measly 30.

“Everybody’s happy. They are also encouraging each other and supporting each other,” Victolero said.

Terrafirma absorbed its fourth defeat in a row to slide to a 1-4 win-loss slate.

Mark Sangalang had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Dyip. Kevin Ferrer and Stanley Pringle scored 17 markers each for the Terrafirma, which gave away 26 second-chance points to Magnolia.

The scores:

MAGNOLIA (127) — Lucero 17, Lee 13, Ahanmisi 11, Eriobu 11, Laput 9, Abueva 8, Lastimosa 8, Sangalang 8, Dela Rosa 8, Balanza 8, Barroca 7, Alfaro 6, Escoto 6, Reavis 4, Dionisio 3.

TERRAFIRMA (94) — Sangalang 19, Pringle 17, Ferrer 17, Olivario 8, Melecio 7, Ramos 7, Hernandez 6, Catapusan 6, Nonoy 4, Zaldivar 3, Hanapi 0.

Quarters: 27-25, 65-37, 91-63, 127-94.