By REYNALD MAGALLON
Bennie Boatwright erupted for 51 points as San Miguel Beer thumphed the hard-fighting Terrafirma, 132-110, to keep its chase for a quarterfinals bonus in the 2023-24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, Jan. 7.
The Beermen had too much firepower and annihilated the Dyip, pulling away from a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair in the second half to pick up their seventh win in the conference against three losses.
SMB actually had to shake off some jitters following a two-week break after starting the game flat and falling behind 8-0 early on. Boatwright, though, got the Beermen’s engine going, pumping in 23 of his total in the first quarter to set the tone to the team’s fiery offensive display all game long.
The SMB import drilled seven triples to go along with his 12 rebounds and two blocks in an impressive performance in just his second game in the PBA. He also became only the third player to reach the 50-point mark in this conference following Meralco’s Zach Lofton and TNT’s Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson just a few days ago.
Terrafirma, practically playing with nothing anymore to lose after getting booted out of contention by Rain or Shine’s win over TNT last Friday, put up a huge fight and actually engaged San Miguel to a shootout all throughout the contest.
However, the Beermen were certainly not the one to shy away from a high-scoring contest, breaching the century mark with still 2:50 left in the third – a testament to the team’s firepower that is only reaching its full potential with June Mar Fajardo and Jeron Teng now back on the bench.
Fajardo still didn’t see action while Teng had limited minutes but the Beermen leaned on Don Trollano who fired 22 points and Mo Tautuaa who added 16 points and seven rebounds to provide support to Boatwright.
CJ Perez also chipped in 16 while Terrence Romeo had 12 points and seven assists. Chris Ross only had one point but dished out 10 assists.
Meantime, Barangay Ginebra leaned on a huge fourth quarter rally to shake off a pesky NorthPort side, 103-93, to also stay in the race for the quarterfinals bonus.
Tony Bishop and Japeth Aguilar led a back-breaking 12-0 spurt in the final frame for the Kings to create the much-needed separation before keeping the Batang Pier at bay in the waning minutes to improve their record to 7-3.
Ginebra extended its winning run to three-straight wins but more importantly remained in the hunt for the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals which will be given to the Top 4 teams at the end of the elimination.
So far, Magnolia is the only team assured of the incentive while the last three spots are still an open race between four teams including Ginebra.
With the win, the Kings are tied with the San Miguel Beermen at the fourth to fifth spots with similar records while just half game ahead of them are Phoenix Fuel Masters and Meralco Bolts both boasting 7-2 slates.
Bishop led the way for the Kings on both ends of the floor with 26 points, 16 rebounds and five steals while Jamie Malonzo and Christian Standhardinger had 16 apiece.
Aguilar chipped in 15 while Maverick Ahanmisi finished 13 – none more timely than his last eight points in the final frame including the booming triple that capped the telling run.
