PBA: Magnolia players hurled with death threats after collapse vs NLEX

Despite a near-perfect shooting, Ian Sangalang still fell short of helping Magnolia get past NLEX, and he received a threat to his life right after. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Some Magnolia players had to be escorted out of the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday night with tighter security after a certain Instagram handle commented apparent death threats in their recent posts.

Ian Sangalang, Paul Lee, and William Navarro got similar messages from someone named Daniel Wang moments after the Hotshots lost their first shot at clinching a twice-to-beat advantage in the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals against the NLEX Road Warriors.

Before his comment was taken down, Wang claimed that he lost a huge sum of money after Magnolia blew an early 19-point lead and bowed down to NLEX, seemingly implying that he bet on the Hotshots to win.

Just when everyone thought the Hotshots were set to bludgeon the Road Warriors, the latter fought back in the second and third quarters to take the lead for good.

NLEX still led by as much as 17 points in the fourth quarter before Magnolia cut it to eight in the end.

Sangalang had a solid number of 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting to backstop Zav Lucero for the Hotshots, but the six-foot-seven center also committed five turnovers.

Lee put up 16 points, eight in the fourth quarter when they were struggling to mount a comeback, on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-4 from four-point range, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

For the second straight game, Navarro, Magnolia's latest acquisition through a trade with NorthPort, struggled to find his groove, only finishing 1-for-7 from the field for two points while also committing three turnovers.

This is the second time this season that a death threat has been issued to a PBA player, four months after Ginebra rookie RJ Abarrientos called out someone who threatened him after a clutch miss against Meralco last conference.

More stringent security is expected at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Sunday night, especially with the Gin Kings and the TNT Tropang 5G colliding in the rematch of the past two conference finals, with huge Top 4 implications also in play.