By REYNALD MAGALLON
San Miguel overcame a furious fightback from Converge and eked out an important 116-113 victory to boost its playoff hopes in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Friday, Jan. 24.
Badly needing a win to keep their spot in the Top 8, the Beermen seemingly showed a sense of urgency when they established a big margin but still barely survived the FiberXers in the highly physical and emotional encounter.
Juami Tiongson kept SMB’s head above the water with timely plays down the stretch including a crucial steal that led to a CJ Perez free throw and gave the Beermen a three-point cushion and eventually the win that hiked their record to 5-6.
The Beermen solidified their hold of the eighth spot although the Magnolia Hotshots and the NLEX Road Warriors, both with 4-6 slates, are keeping chase.
Even with the lead though, SMB still had to face some anxious moments late, dodging two huge bullets after Alec Stockton, and on the final play, Brian Santos failed to nail what was supposed to be an overtime-sending triple.
Tiongson had his best scoring night in SMB uniform with 22 points – none bigger than his last four points in the final frame when he steadied the ship for the Beermen after the FiberXers pounced on the absence of June Mar Fajardo on the floor.
The SMB star was called for a flagrant foul penalty 1 with 8:30 left in the fourth and was forced to sit on the bench. It was a stretch that Converge took advantage of as it went on a 25-12 run to recover from a once 19-point deficit and come within one, 113-114, inside the final two minutes.
SMB had multiple chances to put the game away – first on Fajardo’s two free throws which he split, CJ Perez’s four free throws off a foul where he only made one and then another two from import Malik Pope who missed it altogether – keeping the window open for Converge.
Pope, though, had his best game so far with 22 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks while Fajardo added 19 points and 14 boards. Don Trollano was a spark off the bench with 17 while Perez chipped in 11 for SMB which took a 64-45 lead in the first half.
Meanwhile, TNT quickly picked up the pieces from its stunning loss the last time out as the Tropang Giga vented all of their frustrations on Phoenix, 106-90, to finally barge into the playoffs.
Coming off a shocking upset loss to an already eliminated Terrafirma team, TNT made sure to not commit the same mistakes when it took control of the game in the second quarter and showed no letup from there.
The result? A dominant 36-point win for TNT – the largest winning margin so far in the conference.
Leading the effort on both ends of the floor was import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, pouring in 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks while the rest of the locals amply supported him with a well-distributed offensive effort.
RR Pogoy only had 12, Kim Aurin and Calvin Oftana with 11 each but had six players with at least six points on the scoreboard led by the eight apiece for Rey Nambatac, Henry Galinato and Kelly Williams.
TNT improved to a 7-3 record, formally clinching a spot in the quarterfinals. The win also allowed the Tropang Giga to remain in contention for the Top 2 spots.
More than the offensive show, the biggest difference in TNT’s performance in this game was its defense, limiting Phoenix to its season-low scoring of 70 points – a far cry from the team’s defensive effort when it allowed Terrafirma to explode for 117 points.
A testament to TNT’s improved defense was its effort to limit Phoenix’s high scoring import Donovan Smith, who the Tropang Giga contained to a season-worst 11 points.
