Phoenix had a two-point cushion and 12 minutes to protect it. By the final buzzer, Magnolia had turned that cushion into a 14-point beatdown — and buried the memory of the last time these two teams met.

The Hotshots outscored Phoenix Super LPG, 33-17, in the fourth quarter to escape with a 115-101 win Wednesday at Ynares Center Antipolo, flipping an 82-84 deficit into their third straight victory in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup. It was payback, plain and simple, for a first-round meeting Magnolia lost by 12 — and it left Group B’s playoff race a genuine mess, with four teams now separated by a single game.

Two Career Nights, One Ruthless Quarter

KJ Buffen has been good all conference. On Wednesday, he was unstoppable, closing with a career-high 35 points that led all scorers. Jerom Lastimosa matched the moment beside him, pouring in a personal-best 30 of his own. Between them, the two combined for 65 points, and almost all the damage that mattered came in that final period, when Phoenix simply had no answer left to give.

It wasn’t just the two stars carrying the load. Mark Barroca gave Magnolia a steadying presence with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists. Zav Lucero was a rebounding menace, grabbing 10 boards to go with nine points, and Ian Sangalang added 10 points of his own.

Phoenix, to its credit, didn’t go quietly for most of the night. Import BJ Johnson put on a show, scoring a game-high 37 points, and Ricci Rivero chipped in 16. Kenneth Tuffin and Ken Ballungay each scored 12, and Aljun Mamuyac added 10. But the same problem that cost Phoenix its previous game resurfaced at the worst possible time — a fourth-quarter no-show. Against Blackwater, it was 14 points in the final period. Against Magnolia, it was 17. Either way, it wasn’t enough.

A Crowded Race, Right Before the Lights Go Out

The win pulls Magnolia level with Phoenix at 4-3, with both teams trailing only Rain or Shine at 4-2, while Blackwater breathes down their necks at 3-3. Four teams, one game apart, all chasing the same handful of Top Four spots — and now staring down nine weeks of dead air while the league pauses for Gilas Pilipinas’ FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and the Asian Games in Nagoya.

That timing gnaws at head coach LA Tenorio, even in victory.

“Too bad we’re taking a break for nine weeks, sayang yung momentum namin. Nandoon na sana ang rhythm,” he said afterward. “Pero mahalaga ito sa amin. We need this win before the break.”

What mattered more to him, though, was how his team handled getting punched first. Phoenix had owned the third quarter, 35-22, the kind of run that has rattled Magnolia before. This time, it didn’t. “The guys responded after the third quarter. Usually, kapag nagkaka-run ang kalaban namin, we got deflated at natataranta. Today, they stayed positive,” Tenorio said.

Lastimosa, who has been working closely under Tenorio all season, kept his own explanation simple. “Nag-stick to the system lang kami,” he said. “Good for me, tinututukan ako ng coach namin, and I didn’t take it for granted. Pinanghahawakan ko yung sinasabi nya.”

Magnolia opened this conference 1-3 and looked like a team headed nowhere. It closes the first half 4-3, winners of three straight, and the team nobody in Group B wants to see again once the break ends.