MANILA, Philippines – Aris Dionisio could not have picked a better time for the finest performance of his PBA career.
Dionisio fired a career-high 30 points as Magnolia secured its playoff berth in the PBA Governors’ Cup after a 110-94 win over NorthPort at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Friday, September 20.
Riding on a sizzling start, Dionisio unloaded a franchise record nine three-pointers in the rout that allowed the Hotshots to improve to 5-4 and complete the quarterfinal cast in Group A, with the Batang Pier getting the boot.
“This guy works hard in practice. Every day, he comes early, he works on his shot, and he puts in the extra work in practice,” said Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero of Dionisio, who is now in his fifth season with the Hotshots.
“He deserves to have a breakout game. Hopefully, he becomes consistent.”
Dionisio sank four triples in the opening quarter as Magnolia jumped to a 29-13 lead and coasted the rest of the way in a game where both teams played without their imports.
The Hotshots missed Shabazz Muhammad due to a knee injury, while the Batang Pier also went all Filipino after Venky Jois underwent surgery to repair the ruptured achilles he sustained in their 114-104 loss to Meralco a week ago.
Without the two teams’ reinforcements, Dionisio stole the show.
Dionisio buried his ninth trey with 30 seconds left to break the franchise record of eight three-pointers set by Boyet Fernandez in 2001, doing so in only 11 attempts.
“Every game, coach mentions that we need to start strong because almost all our games, we start slow so we have a hard time recovering in the end. Sometimes, we win, but more often than not, we lose,” Dionisio said.
“I just think to myself that I should go hard and we need the win to make the playoffs.”
Zavier Lucero shone as well with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks, while Joseph Eriobu and Calvin Abueva contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Magnolia, whose win also allowed Converge (5-4) to reach the playoffs.
Ian Sangalang tallied 10 points, Paul Lee chipped in 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists, and Mark Barroca put up 7 points, 12 assists, and 6 rebounds despite wearing a mask as a protection for his broken nose.
The loss meant a second straight conference of missing the playoffs for NorthPort, which lost its third straight game and dropped to 3-6.
Half of those defeats were without Jois as the Batang Pier fizzled out after a respectable 3-3 start.
Arvin Tolentino paced NorthPort with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks, while Jio Jalalon posted 11 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals against his former team.
The Scores
Magnolia 110 – Dionisio 30, Lucero 16, Eriobu 13, Abueva 12, Sangalang 10, Lee 9, Dela Rosa 9, Barroca 7, Ahanmisi 4, Mendoza 0, Escoto 0, Balanza 0, Laput 0.
NorthPort 94 – Tolentino 25, Cuntapay 13, Jalalon 11, Flores 8, Amores 8, Munzon 6, Navarro 6, Onwubere 6, Tratter 4, Bulanadi 4, Taha 2, Nelle 1, Yu 0.
Quarters : 29-13, 57-35, 83-61, 110-94.
– Rappler.com