Games Saturday:

(Ninoy Aquino Stadium)

5:00 p.m. --- NorthPort vs Terrafirma

7:30 p.m. --- Rain or Shine vs NLEX

June Mar Fajardo bulldozed his way to a double-double to lead San Miguel Beer to a satisfying, 110-98, payback win over Meralco in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Wednesday night at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The eight-time Most Valuable Player scored 28 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to go with four assists in the Beermen’s second straight victory in as many outings in the league’s main feature for its 50^th anniversary playdate.

San Miguel had to dig in and weather the Bolts’ 36-point third quarter revolt and some scary moments early in the fourth to snap last year’s finals tormentors’ back-to-back romp during the special game that had a nostalgic feel as both teams wore their retro jerseys.

“The comeback of Meralco from first half to second half until the last quarter, they were able to cut the lead to two. That was a really scary moment for us,” Beermen coach Leo Austria said.

“But because of the experience of the players like June Mar and the others, they know how to win in these kinds of situations.”  

San Miguel led by 17 points in the first half, but Meralco behind last edition’s Finals MVP Chris Newsome crept back with a strong second half.

Newsome cut the Beermen’s advantage to just 77-75 to start the fourth quarter. San Miguel brought order back with Perez hitting a four-pointer for a 99-89 advantage with 5:14 left in the game and held on for the win.

Jeron Teng added 11 points for San Miguel.

Playing their third game in six days, the weary Meralco gave away 22 points off turnovers.

Newsome got 27 points and seven assists, Kurt Reyson added 14 while Aaron Black and Raymar Jose chipped in 12 markers each.

Meanwhile, Ian Sangalang and Zav Lucero showed the way as Magnolia racked a second straight win at the expense of Converge, 83-71, in the first game.

Holding his own against the FiberXers towering duo of Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar, veteran big man Sangalang punched in 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds while adding four assists for the unbeaten Hotshots.    

"I respected their game. Those two are not newbies in the game. If you don’t respect them, they’ll crush you," the 33-year-old Sangalang said.

Lucero also had 18 markers, Russel Escoto provided 11 points while Rome dela Rosa and Calvin Abueva combined for 17 markers for Magnolia, who dominated the final period after holding just a three-point advantage at the end of the third canto.

Seasoned guards Mark Barroca and Paul Lee had a bad shooting night but it hardly mattered.

“We want this guy (Ian Sangalang), our veterans Paul and Mark to have fresh legs so that down the stretch we’ll be able to execute. We can go to Ian, Paul and Mark,” Magnolia coach Chito Victoleto said.

“The younger guys helped us a lot. That’s what we’ve done in our four weeks of preparation. Credit to all the players, they are embracing our system, which we improved and tweaked the strength of our defense. I think it’s working.”

Converge slid to a 1-2 slate despite Arana and Baltazar producing double-doubles.

Arana had 14 points and 14 rebounds while Baltazar finished with 11 markers and 13 boards.

The Scores:

First game

MAGNOLIA (83) --- Sangalang 18, Lucero 18, Escoto 11, Dela Rosa 9, Abueva 8, Laput 4, Barroca 4, Alfaro 4, Lee 3, Lastimosa 2, Dionisio 2, Reavis 0, Eriobu 0

CONVERGE (71) --- Winston 14, Arana 14, Baltazar 11, Racal 11, Stockton 8, B.Santos 4, Garcia 4, Corpuz 3, Delos Santos 2, Garcia 2, Ambohot 0, Nermal 0, Santos 0, Fleming 0, Caralipio 0

Quarters: 14-16, 36-33, 59-56, 83-71

Second game

SAN MIGUEL (110) --- Perez 29, Fajardo 28, Teng 11, Brondial 9, Lassiter 8, Tiongson 7, Rosales 7, Tautuaa 6, Trollano 5, Cahilig 0

MERALCO (98) --- Newsome 27, Reyson 14, Black 12, Jose 12, Hodge 10, Cansino 8, Bates 6, Almazan 5, Quinto 4, Torres 0, Rios 0, Caram 0, Pascual 0

Quarters: 25-21, 52-38, 77-74, 110-98