MAGNOLIA hopes to make it two in a row in the PBA Commissioner's Cup as it tackles a Columbian Dyip side that will parade a new import on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Hotshots are coming off a 98-88 victory over the NLEX Road Warriors Friday night, a huge confidence builder they'll be bringing with them in their 4:30 p.m. match against the Dyip on Father's Day.
The victory over the Road Warriors snapped the Hotshots' two-game skid for a 1-2 record.
Magnolia will be playing its third game in the last five days of a brutal stretch where coach Chito Victolero hopes his team will emerge with a winning record.
"Hopefully, maka-50 percent kami after Sunday. That's our goal before we faced the top teams," he said.
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"It's a back-to-back-to-back games in five days. Parang nasa playoffs kami."
In contrast, Columbian is fresh from a two-week rest since clinching its first win in the conference, a 120-105 rout of NLEX last June 1 in import Kyle Barone's last outing with the franchise.
The victory improved the Dyip's record to 1-3 overall.
Barone will be replaced by Lester Prosper, a 6-foot-10 prospect out of SUNY Old Westbur, the same school that produced Columbian Dyip guard Rashawn McCarhty.
Prosper, 30, has previously played in Mexico, Canada, Venezuela, and Slovakia.
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The league debut of Prosper also coincides with the return to active duty of Fil-Am guard Jerramy King.
The 28-year-old King has been laid off for five months after suffering a partial tear/strain on his Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL).
He sustained the injury in the Dyip's first game of the season against San Miguel during the Philippine Cup. (RG)
