Magnolia tests mettle of TNT

‘We need to learn from our mistakes.’

Magnolia must be consistent and disciplined to start a winning run in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup.

Head coach Chito Victolero believes these will be the key for the Hotshots to pull off a second straight victory against rebound-seeking defending champion TNT when they clash today in Group A at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

Magnolia almost blew a 21-point fourth quarter lead before repelling Converge, 105-93, for its first win in two outings last Friday.

Victolero doesn’t want a repeat of the scare against the Tropang Giga in the scheduled 7:30 p.m. clash.

“We need to learn from our mistakes. We can’t allow ourselves to be forced to do some endgame executions during situations where the game is close,” said the mentor, who had to rely on veteran guard Mark Barroca in a couple of crucial plays at crunch time.

Paul Lee, who scored 14 points last game, understands that the Hotshots should always have their guards up especially against Tropang Giga led by prolific scorer Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

“I guess, we need to sustain our fast tempo even if we’re up big. We have to avoid getting too relaxed and we need to be more disciplined,” Lee said.

Interestingly, it was also the FiberXers who gave TNT a headache last Tuesday.

But unlike Magnolia, the Tropang Giga failed to stop Converge from completing a comeback as they absorbed a 95-96 defeat after Scotty Hopson drilled the game-winning quadruple with three seconds left.

TNT is now looking for a quick turnaround and peel itself off a two-way tie at the top spot beside FiberXers with identical 2-1 win-loss slates.

Hollis-Jefferson, Calvin Oftana, Jayson Castro, Glenn Khobuntin, Rey Nambatac and a healthier RR Pogoy lead the Tropang Giga against Lee, Barroca, Jerick Ahanmisi, Ian Sangalang, Calvin Abueva and high-flying import Glenn Robinson III.

Meanwhile, Converge tries to carry the momentum of its escape over TNT to keep its hold of the lead against NorthPort at 5 p.m.

“For us to grind out something like this, really tough game against a tough team, gives us confidence coming into the next game,” FiberXers coach Franco Atienza.

Hopson, who scored 32 points in the previous match, will have Schonny Winston, Justin Arana, Kevin Racal and Alex Cabagnot to back him up.

The Batang Pier seeks a follow-up to their 112-93 win over Terrafirma last Friday to hike their 1-1 slate.

Will Navarro, who had a 31-point explosion in the previous match, along with Aussie import Venky Jois, Joshua Munzon and Arvin Tolentino spearhead NorthPort’s charge.