By REYNALD MAGALLON
Marcio Lassiter moved up to the second spot of the all-time three-points list as he powered San Miguel past NLEX, 119-114, to erase the bad memories of its first round loss in the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Wednesday, Sept 11.
Lassiter fired four triples to move past the great Allan Caidic to the list while also leading the Beermen’s fourth quarter assault and improving their record to 4-2.
The 37-year-old gunner fired 17 points – none bigger than his eight points in the final frame including the triple he buried off a nice kick-out pass from Jericho Cruz that not only allowed SMB to take a 105-100 lead but also enabled him to overtake Caidic’s 1,242 career triples.
Lassiter now has 1,243 to his name – seven to tie and eight more to surpass all-time record holder Jimmy Alapag who had 1,250 treys throughout his career.
CJ Perez finished with 24 points highlighted by four crucial free throws that kept the Road Warriors at bay in the waning seconds while June Mar Fajardo missed a rebound for another supposed double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds.
New import Sheldon Mac, who took over for first import choice Jordan Adams, had a subpar performance considering his NBA credentials with only 16 points to show.
Robert Bolick paced NLEX with 24 points and 15 assists while Mike Miranda had 18. Import Myke Henry had 17 points, six rebounds and six assists but were not enough to prevent the Road Warriors from absorbing their third straight defeat for a 3-4 record in Group B.
Meanwhile, Converge redeemed itself from an embarrassing loss to NorthPort in the first round, coming out with a pulsating 107-99 victory to pump life to its playoff hopes.
The FiberXers squandered a huge 16-point lead and trailed by as many as seven in the fourth before recovering in time to snap their three-game slide and catch their victims with a similar 3-4 record in Group A.
The trio of Alec Stockton, Schonny Winston and Brian Santos came up huge in the waning minutes as they combined on an 18-3 finishing kick despite import Scotty Hopson playing subpar performance and Justin Arana fouling out.
Stockton finished with 21 points – none bigger than his and-1 play with 1:07 left to shove the FiberXers back into the lead, 101-99. Winston then delivered the dagger with a jumper in transition to finish with 17 points to go with his nine rebounds.
Santos, who also had two big triples down the stretch, also wound up with 15 points while Hopson, who was playing through an injury, had 12 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
The heat of the game also spilled over even at the end of the final buzzer as Converge assistant Danny Ildefonso and NorthPort governor Erick Arejola figured in a commotion during the customary handshake before cooler heads prevailed.
Ildefonso and the Batang Pier have a bad history over the former’s farm team comments on social media which stemmed from the ongoing contract impasse between the latter and his son, Dave.
The Batang Pier admitted that the comments actually served as a motivation for the team’s 135-109 victory over the FiberXers in the first round. During that game, Arvin Tolentino exploded for 51 points.
