The Rundown From PBA Saturday: Abueva, Magnolia Stay on Top

Magnolia’s Nick Rakocevic and Calvin Abueva both notched double-double outings as Magnolia retains their spot at the top of the 2022 PBA Commissioner’s Cup standings.

Magnolia vs Phoenix
Photo from PBA Images.

Magnolia’s bigs dominate the boards

Nick Rakocevic normed 18 points and 18 rebounds while Calvin Abueva came off the bench to pour in 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots beat the Phoenix Super LPG, 90-80. 

Jio Jalalon flirted with a triple-double, recording 12 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists, while two other starters, Ian Sangalang and Paul Lee, added 10 markers apiece. Mark Barroca had a solid 11-point outing off the bench to help the Hotshots improve to a 7-1 slate. 

Sean Anthony came out with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.  Kaleb Wesson had a quiet offensive night, scoring only 9 points on a lowly 27% shooting. 

Phoenix’s offensive arsenal was missing in the game as gunners Javee Mocon and RJ Jazul only shot 30% and 26% and finished the game with 10 points and 11 points respectively.

After a trail-blazing five-game winning streak, the Fuel Masters dropped their last two games and now own a 5-5 slate. 

Batang Pier completes a comeback behind Tolentino’s career night

Arvin Tolentino posted a career-high 31 points, along with 12 rebounds, as the NorthPort Batang Pier snatched the game from the Terrafirma Dyip, 91-85. 

Robert Bolick stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, 7 rebounds 10 assists, while rookie Will Navarro recorded 12 points and seven rebounds as the Batang Pier logged their second straight win and improved to a 5-5 slate. 

Prince Ibeh made his presence felt on the defensive end, finishing with 17 rebounds and six blocks to help in NorthPort’s successful comeback. 

Lester Prosper had another solid outing, norming 23 points and 18 rebounds, while Juami Tiongson notched 18 points and seven assists as the Dyip dropped their 9th straight loss of the conference. 

Alex Cabagnot was the only local, other than Tiongson, to eclipse double-digit scoring for the lowly Dyip. The 39-year-old guard had to carry the offensive load, as he finished the game with 16 markers. 

The Dyip led as many as 15 points only to collapse in the final canto en route to a 0-9 slate.

By the Numbers

  • 74.5

    After suffering their first loss of the conference against Ginebra, Magnolia bounced back with a mini two-game win streak. Their topnotch defense has held their opponents to only 74.5 points in that span.

  • 6.6

    Magnolia's Jio Jalalon is having his best all-around performance this conference. Jalalon ranks third behind Justin Brownlee and Alex Cabagnot in assists (6.6), while also doing tremendous work on the other end (2.1 steals). There's no doubt that he has been very instrumental in the Hotshots' 7-1 record in their current campaign.

  • 20.5

    Offensive rebounding has been a big part of NorthPort's previous two wins, as it led to an average of 20.5 second chance points. From a record of 3-5, the Batang Pier now sport a 5-5 slate to climb to the fifth spot in the standings.

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