FINALLY, Magnolia Ang Pambansang Manok managed to snap out of Barangay Ginebra's spell.
Romeo Travis made sure of that, scoring a personal conference-high 37 points in leading the Hotshots to a 106-98 victory over the Kings Saturday at the start of their PBA Governors Cup semifinal duel at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
Travis also had 16 rebounds and five assists while Paul Lee added 27 points, including some crucial ones down the stretch, as Magnolia showed uncanny resiliency against Ginebra to end its seven-game losing skein to the perennial crowd darling since last February.
More important, the Hotshots took the headstart in their best-of-five duel which resumes Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Coach Chito Victolero would not let his team get ahead of itself, however.
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"Winning Game One hindi iyan assurance na makakapunta ka sa finals," said Victolero. "Ang pinag-usapan main ditto, we need to win three games in order for us to go to the Finals. Although there's a percentage na nakuha namin (in our favor) hindi pa rin assurance iyan."
Justin Brownlee also wound up with 37 points on top of 14 rebounds and eight assists, but he failed to sustain a sterling start that netted him 20 points in the first quarter alone that propped his team to two 12-point leads.
It's not just Brownlee alone, however, as the entire Ginebra crew, save for a brief stretch in the fourth, struggled mightily in the face of Magnolia's pressure.
After making 16 of its first 22 shots, Ginebra wound up shooting 37 of 80 from the field to Magnolia's 43 of 93 clip. The Kings were also harassed into committing 22 turnovers.
Still, the Kings did manage to whittle the Hotshots' 14-point spread to just two points twice, the last at 93-95, behind baskets by Jeff Chan, Kevin Ferrer and Japeth Aguilar, still 3:44 to go.
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But Lee would not let Magnolia's efforts go to waste as he scored on a runner and added four more on a drive and a pair of charities during an 8-0 surge that stretched the lead back to 103-93.
Ginebra's last gasp came when Brownlee boomed in a triple, but Lee countered right back with a three-point play to all but ice the game, 106-96, only 56 ticks left.
Aguilar finished with 18 points while Tenorio was the lone other Ginebra player in double figures with 13. Greg Slaughter came off the bench for eight points and nine boards.
Justin Melton's 11 points were also the most by the rest of the Magnolia crew, but his defense and that of Rome dela Rosa, Rafi Reavis, Robert Herndon and even Ian Sangalang proved immeasurable.
Such pressure got translated into a 19-3 charge in the first six minutes of the second period as the Hotshots took the lead for good at 50-42 before settling for a 63-55 count at the half.
Travis took care of most of the offensive load, scattering nine in the second period and 12 more in the third which Magnolia took 86-76. (NC)
The scores:
Magnolia 106 - Travis 37, Lee 27, Melton 11, Sangalang 7, Barroca 6, Dela Rosa 6, Jalalon 5, Pascual 4, Herndon 3, Brondial 0, Reavis 0.
Ginebra 98 - Brownlee 37, Aguilar 18, Tenorio 13, Slaughter 8, Thompson 7, Chan 5, Mariano 4, Ferrer 4, Mercado 2.
Quarters: 31-39, 63-55, 86-76, 106-98
