ANTIPOLO CITY – Romeo Travis scored a career-high 50 points despite being hobbled with an injured hamstring as Magnolia dethroned Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 112-108, in a pulsating affair witnessed by a packed crowd last night to advance to the PBA Governors’ Cup here.
Travis’ three-point play off a Japeth Aguilar foul with 44.1 seconds left put the Hotshots ahead 108-106 after things seemed bleak when the Kings took advantage of a non-goaltending call on Justin Brownlee to take a 106-101 lead at the Ynares Center in this city.
His inspiring play came after doubts of whether he’ll play the fourth game of the best-of-five series due to the injury he sustained at halftime of Magnolia’s 107-103 loss two nights earlier at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But the former Best Import winner played as if there was no pain to carry the Hotshots on his back and put them in the finals for the second time in three conferences while ending Ginebra’s two-year reign as champion of the season-ending conference.
“Grabe yung puso ng import namin, wala akong masabi,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero, who revealed that Travis was only cleared hours before tipoff while management had prepared to tap former La Salle star Ben Mbala as a potential backup import.
Paul Lee, maligned for his two miscues in Game 3, sealed the deal for the Hotshots by knocking down two pressure-packed free throws with 14 seconds left, virtually slaying the ghost of last year’s collapse against the Kings in the Philippine Cup semifinals.
Magnolia will face the winner of the other semifinal series between Alaska and Meralco in a best-of-seven title series which starts on Dec. 5, two days after the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers. (Jonas Terrado)
The scores:
MAGNOLIA 112 – Travis 50, Sangalang 14, Lee 11, Jalalon 9, Herndon 8, Barroca 8, Simon 6, Dela Rosa 4, Reavis 2, Melton 0, Brondial 0.
GINEBRA 108 – Brownlee 32, Aguilar 25, Thompson 12, Tenorio 12, Devance 11, Slaughter 7, Mercado 5, Chan 2, Mariano 2, Ferrer 0.
Quarters: 20-27, 51-53, 81-79, 112-108
