Magnolia rips Macau, scores first victory

Games today:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)

5:15 p.m. — Titan vs Meralco

7:30 p.m. — Converge vs Ginebra

Magnolia halted a three-game slide and finally punched a first win by beating listless guest team Macau, 121-109, in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

New Hotshots import Clint Chapman impressed in his debut, coming up with 39 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.

The 6-foot-10 reinforcement shot 15-of-26 from the field and provided the spark in the crucial run inside the last two minutes for Magnolia to walk away with the morale-boosting victory.

“It’s amazing, this arena has a lot of history, as we know. So, to have my first game and first win, everything, in this arena is special,” said Chapman, who arrived on Monday to replace South Sudanese Nuni Omot.

Magnolia had a scare late in the payoff period when the 19-point lead it established in the third quarter was cut down to just 108-103 with 2:08 left in the game.

Chapman completed a three-point play to ignite a five-point Hotshots swing for a double-digit separation that was enough to keep the Black Knights at bay.

“It’s been a while,” Magnolia head coach LA Tenorio quipped.

“We really needed this win. For me, a win is a win. It’s really hard to win now in the PBA as all teams are really improving. We had a hard time winning because mainly, we can’t get the right recipe to win. Ironically, that’s our name, Chicken Timplados but we can’t get the right timpla. But thank God we got this win with the big boss of Clint,” he added.

Zav Lucero added 23 points and nine rebounds while Jerom Lastimosa posted 20 points for Magnolia, which built a 73-54 advantage with 6:13 in the third quarter.

Macau remained winless after four starts despite having five players in double figures.

Chon Pong Lao finished with 24 points, Tony Mitchell had a double-double of 22 points and 14 boards while Damian Chongqui scored 20 and pulled down 10 rebounds. Phoenix Shackelford and Jenning Yeung chipped in 19 and 14, respectively.