By REYNALD MAGALLON
Marcio Lassiter showed nerves of steel and drained a clutch baseline jumper to lift San Miguel past the gritty Phoenix, 107-104, and open its title defense in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup on a winning note at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Wednesday, Dec. 3.
The veteran gunner took over down the stretch, pouring 11 of his 15 points in the final frame including the go-ahead jumper off an inbound play with 2.6 seconds left to give the Beermen a winning debut in the mid-season conference.
Lassiter also had a crucial rebound and an assist to import Quincy Miller in an earlier play as SMB completed its comeback from a 16-point deficit in the final frame.
With most of the attention on the SMB debut of Juami Tiongson, Andreas Cahilig, who was also part of the deal with Terrafirma, stole the show and provided immediate impact for the Beermen.
He scored all of his 12 points in the fourth quarter – highlighted by three straight triples that put SMB back into the game after trailing, 87-71.
CJ Perez still led the balanced assault for the defending champions with 18 points while Miller and Trollano had 14 apiece. June Mar Fajardo was limited to just eight points but made up for it by collaring 16 rebounds.
Tiongson only had eight but had a huge triple in the payoff period to sustain the Beermen’s run.
The hulking yet sweet shooting Fuel Masters import Donovan Smith finished with game-high 37 points spiked by two fours and three triples on top of his 15 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Robert Bolick exploded for 32 points as NLEX fended off a brave Terrafirma stand to take a 104-85 victory.
The high-scoring guard came out guns blazing in the opening frame and never cooled down as he also drilled timely hits to keep the Dyip at bay and pick up the Road Warriors’ second straight victory after opening the conference with a loss.
Bolick poured 13 of his total in the first quarter as he led NLEX to a huge lead that went to as high as 25 points and then had 10 in the final frame to help his team avert another huge collapse when Terrafirma came within single digits.
Mike Watkins dominated inside the paint with a monster double-double of 26 points and 30 rebounds, taking full advantage of his size and heft against the Terrafirma frontline which opted to sit its import Ryan Richards and just go all-Filipino.
