By REYNALD MAGALLON
San Miguel Beer deftly spread its offense to shake off the pesky Rain or Shine side, 99-93 and grab the solo lead in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, June 29.
Six players scored in twin digits for the mighty Beermen led by CJ Perez who anchored SMB’s offensive attack in the final frame to create the much-needed separation against the Elasto Painters and improve to a league-best 5-1 record.
Perez followed up his triple-double performance against Converge with a 21-point output on top of five assists and four rebounds. Marcio Lassiter had 16 points while Jericho Cruz and Simon Enciso added 14 and 12 markers respectively.
June Mar Fajardo only had 10 points across his name but pulled down 16 boards on top of career-high seven assists.
After a pair of lopsided victories, San Miguel head coach Leo Austria was elated to see his Beermen prevail in a grind out game which according to him can develop the team’s character.
“This game, a tight game, it could develop a lot of character sa team. We’re learning how to win in a tight game. Before, alam namin kung papaano manalo but a lot of original players are not (anymore) on our team and we have a lot of injured players,” said Austria who also lauded the performance of his bench players who provided quality minutes for the team.
“I’m so happy for those players na coming off the bench na we seldom see on the court na nagsetp-up kahit na hindi sila umi-score but yung energy nila enough na iyon to relieve yung mga players an alam natin na starter and finisher,” he added.
Jewel Ponferrada paced Rain or Shine with 20 points while Leonard Santillan added 18 which all went down the drain as the Elasto Painters’ woes continued with fifth-straight loss for a 1-5 mark.
Rain or Shine hung tough with SMB up until the final quarter when the Beermen created a 10-point cushion, 93-83 following consecutive baskets from Perez, Cruz and Fajardo.
The Elasto Painters tried to mount a comeback behind the efforts of Mike Nieto and Ponferrada, cutting the lead down to just five, 95-90 with 1:19 left in the game.
Fajardo however collared two huge rebounds in the waning minutes which led to a perfect assist to Cruz who scored on an under goal stab. The 6-foot-10 big man, after attracting the defense in their next play, issued another perfect pass to Brondial for a layup which sealed the deal for the Beermen.
In other game, Jayson Castro came up huge at crunch time as TNT survived the late fightback from NorthPort to pick up a 117-112 victory for its fourth straight win.
Castro proved he still got the nerves of steel as he scored four of the Tropang Giga’s last six points, including a booming right wing triple which doused the Batang Pier’s searing rally from 12 points down and gave TNT a 114-110 lead with 38 seconds left in the clock.
Mikey Williams and RR Pogoy provided the one-two punch for TNT with the former exploding for 27 points on top of seven rebounds while the latter adding 22 points, five boards and four assists.
However, it was Castro, who finished with 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds, delivering the biggest baskets down the stretch when Williams was forced to sit down due to foul trouble and Pogoy cooling down in the final frame.
With the win, TNT improved to a 6-2 record and now virtually clinched a spot in the playoffs.
The scores:
First Game
TNT 117 – M.Williams 27, Pogoy 22, Castro 17, Erram 17, Alejandro 12, Khobuntin 9, Heruela 7, K.Williams 2, Marcelo 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Banal 0, Cruz 0.
NorthPort 112 – Malonzo 27, Sumang 24, Calma 16, Ferrer 14, Balanza 10, Ayaay 7, Santos 6, Bolick 5, Dela Cruz 1, Taha 0.
Quarters: 26-30, 55-55, 85-78, 117-112.
Second Game
San Miguel 99 – Perez 21, Lassiter 16, Brondial 16, Cruz 14, Enciso 12, Fajardo 10, Faundo 4, Pessumal 3, Herndon 2, Zamar 1, Canete 0.
Rain or Shine 93 – Ponferrada 20, Nambatac 18, Torres 16, Caracut 11, Nieto 8, Ildefonso 6, Norwood 5, Santillan 5, Demusis 2, Asistio 2, Belga 0.
Quarters: 28-22, 49-45, 73-70, 99-93.
