By REYNALD MAGALLON
Cameron Clark came through with a clutch basket as San Miguel Beer averted a huge disaster with a pulsating 102-99 win over Ginebra to get a share of the top spot in the standings in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday, Feb. 17.
The SMB import scored on a huge layup off a broken play to give the Beermen a precarious three-point lead before holding on to their defense in the Kings’ final possession to rise to a 7-1 record in the standings in tie with the TNT Tropang Giga.
“Ginebra’s tough, it’s a never-say-die team and well-coached so just what I said the last game if we want to win this game we want to play for 48 minutes of basketball and not let them get the chance to take advantage of our lapses,” said SMB head coach Jorge Gallent.
The Beermen actually looked poised to coast to the victory with nary a trouble when a Clark dunk kept a double-digit lead, 98-87 lead with 2:15 remaining in the game.
The Kings, though, armed with the composure they developed in their last title conquest, embarked on a fiery 12-2 run, capped by a Nardz Pinto corner triple and Scottie Thompson layup off a steal in SMB’s inbound play to pull within one, 99-100 with 26 ticks left.
Ginebra even had the chance to force a steal in SMB’s next possession but the Beermen managed to recover as Simon Enciso found the cutting Clark for the clutch layup. Pinto had another chance to send the game to extra period but went too strong in his final three-point try.
Clark finished with a double-double of 35 points and 10 rebounds while CJ Perez backstopped him with 20 points and seven rebounds. June Mar Fajardo, despite being bothered by Ginebra defense, still managed to end up with 12 points while hauling down 18 rebounds.
Christian Standhardinger paced Ginebra with 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while Justin Brownlee scattered 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists – all of which, however, went in vain as the Kings absorbed their second straight defeat after a 3-0 start.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 102 – Clark 35, Perez 20, Fajardo 12, Manuel 10, Lassiter 8, Enciso 6, Cruz 5, Brondial 4, Ross 2, Tautuaa 0.
GINEBRA 99 – Standhardinger 29, Brownlee 21, Gray 14, Thompson 13, Malonzo 9, Pringle 6, Pinto 6, Mariano 1, Tenorio 0.
Quarters: 24-21, 50-47, 82-72, 102-99.
