NorthPort escapes late Magnolia rally to seal place in PBA Comm's Cup semis

Kadeem Jack scores on a slam. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

BINAN--NorthPort held on despite a late Magnolia push for a 113-110 win in their PBA Commissioner's Cup quarterfinal clash on Thursday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

Only needing one win to enter the semifinals, the Batang Pier rode behind a 36-15 third quarter to seize control of the game after the Hotshots raced to a 61-47 halftime lead.

However, Magnolia crawled back in the fourth quarter and came to within one, 106-107, with 1:32 to play.

After an exchange of baskets, the Purefoods franchise began losing steam when Rome Dela Rosa only converted a split from the foul line that could only cut its deficit to two, 111-109, with 20 seconds left.

However, Fran Yu split his free throws, opening up a possibility for Magnolia to steal the win outright with a four-pointer.

Paul Lee, who was 3-for-3 from way out before the potential game-winning play, found himself wide open for the four, but he sorrily missed the long tom only for the ball to land on Ricardo Ratliffe's arm.

Ratliffe decided to go for the two and got fouled with 3.7 seconds left, but a lane violation while going for the rebound off his second free throw miss gave the ball back to NorthPort.

Knowing that the Hotshots cannot any more call a live ball timeout, Allyn Bulanadi, after making his first free throw, intentionally missed the second, forcing Zav Lucero to try his luck from beyond halfcourt to no avail.

Kadeem Jack put up 30 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks, and five steals for NorthPort, which finally clinched a playoff series with a once-to-advance advantage after botching its first two tries, one of them actually came against Magnolia when it was still known as Star.

Arvin Tolentino added 25 points on 10-for-15 field goals, four rebounds, four assists, one steal, and two blocks as the Batang Pier will wait for the winner of the best-of-three series between Barangay Ginebra and the Meralco Bolts in their first semifinal appearance since 2019.

Mark Barroca put up 26 points, four rebounds, and 10 assists, while Ratliffe and Lee each added 22 points with Ratliffe also grabbing 19 rebounds for the Hotshots.

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