Can Magnolia put San Miguel Beer on the brink? The Hotshots most certainly hope so as they shoot for a 3-1 lead against the Beermen in the resumption of their best-of-seven championship tilt in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup.
Magnolia is in a good position to move closer to the title as they seek for another stunner over San Miguel in their Game 4 clash at 7 p.m. today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Also, the Best Player of the Conference award will be handed out prior to tip-off and Beermen superstar June Mar Fajardo is expected to be claim the hardware for an unprecedented sixth straight season.
The five-time Most Valuable Player is head and shoulders in terms of statistical points above others in the running such as NorthPort’s Sean Anthony, Stanley Pringle and Mo Tautuua as well as TNT’s RR Pogoy.
With his team looking to close in on the All-Filipino crown, Hotshots’ coach Chito Victolero enjoys the advantage that his team has, but knows that the war is far from over, especially against the five-time defending champions.
“We’re ahead and we like where we are, but we all know it’s far from over,” said Victolero. “We need to stay sharp. We need two more wins.”
Ace guard Mark Barroca and Rafi Reavis were at the forefront of Magnolia’s critical 86-82 win over San Miguel in Game 3 last Sunday night to earn a key lead in the series.
“Hindi kami dapat maging kampante,” emphasized Barroca. “’Yung heart and team nila (San Miguel), laging lalaban and may chance kaya focus lang kami.”
San Miguel Beer mentor Leo Austria lamented the Beermen’s poor performance in two facets of the game the last time out.
“It was our bad shooting and bad rebounding that cost us Game 3,” said Austria. “We need to be better in both to tie the series.”
