Magnolia escaped by the skin of its teeth when they held off defending champion San Miguel Beer in the fourth quarter to hack out a 99-94 victory in Game 1 of their best-of-7 title series in the PBA Philippine Cup at Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.

After trailing the Beermen by 3 points in the first half, the Hotshots outscored the defending champion 28-18 in the third for an 80-73 advantage going to the final period.

But San Miguel, led by June Mar Fajardo's 35 points, fought mightily to pull to within 95-94, with 1:29 remaining.

Fortunately, Ian Sangalang and Paul Lee provided the needed points and Magnolia came up with a couple of defensive stops as the Hotshots took the series opener.

Game 2 returns to the Big Dome on Friday.

Lee led the Hotshots with 19 points, including 2 triples, to go with 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Lee got able backing from Sangalang and Mark Barroca, who added 17 each.

"I told them we can't beat San Miguel on an offensive game . . . We kept them under 100 points and that's the key. If we keep San Miguel under 100 points, we have a chance," Magnolia coach Chito Victolero said.

It was a sorry loss for Fajardo and the Beermen who led the game in the first two quarters.

Alex Cabagnot finished with 18 points, while Arwind Santos added 13.

But Victolero said it's too early to rejoice.

"It's only Game 1. Maganda lang nakauna kami, pero walang nanalo sa best-of-7 series ng Game 1 lang," he said.

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