MANILA, Philippines – With the PBA Governors’ Cup eliminations entering their last stretch, Magnolia and Meralco square off in a tie-breaker match on Sunday. Both teams are motivated to maintain their lead over the opposition.

The Hotshots and the Bolts, who were tied for sixth place at 4 to 3, break the impasse in their 6:45 p.m. Smart Araneta Coliseum brawl.

One team does maintain a close proximity to the front-runners, while the other effectively withdraws from the Top 4, giving the other team a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

With Antonio Hester as an international replacement, the Hotshots have surged into the lead after an incredible recovery from a 0 to 3 tournament start.

The Bolts, meantime, have had a rollercoaster of a season, finally catching up to the Hotshots on Thursday with a 114 to 98 victory over the Road Warriors.

With a concerted effort, the Bolts were able to end a two-game losing streak against the Road Warriors thanks to KJ McDaniels’ 31 points, 21 rebounds, and 19 field goals. Allein Maliksi also scored 19 points.

Coach Norman Black of Meralco stated, “Those back-to-back (losses) were to San Miguel and TNT. We were interested in defeating them, but they’re the two greatest teams in the league right now.”

We got a terrific game from KJ, which we didn’t get for the last couple of games. He had 30 to 20.

The friendly Meralco mentor is optimistic that if they can be more consistent in accomplishing what they need to do, they will have a chance at a strong showing in the elimination rounds.

All the other teams are fighting tooth and nail to make the playoffs, apart from a handful that are pulling away, so we just have to keep it up, added Black.

We’re one of those teams at the moment; we’re in the middle of the pack, but we’ve played the teams ahead of us, so we do have a chance to climb the standings, he continued.

The Hotshots, however, intend to continue playing with their intense energy.

Coach Chito Victolero advised his players to “be optimistic at all times, we try to manage everything optimistically and make certain that we learn from our mistakes.” The goal should be to fight hard and compete for each possession.