Beermen burn Bossing, rack third straight win
JUNE Mar Fajardo provides the muscle underneath in San Miguel Beer’s 115-78 rout of Blackwater in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Photograph courtesy of PBA
Daily TribuneJUNE Mar Fajardo provides the muscle underneath in San Miguel Beer’s 115-78 rout of Blackwater in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Photograph courtesy of PBA
Games Wednesday:
(Philsports Arena)
5 p.m. — Converge vs Terrafirma
7:30 p.m. — Phoenix vs Rain or Shine
San Miguel Beer cruised to a third straight win after a 115-78 cakewalk over Blackwater in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Sunday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
It was all Beermen after the tight opening period as they blew out the also-ran Bossing for a 6-2 win-loss record inside the top four of the standings.
CJ Perez and June Mar Fajardo spearheaded San Miguel’s relentless assault, which created the separation that went as many as 37. Perez scored 20 points while the eight-time Most Valuable Player Fajardo submitted a double-double of 17 markers and 13 rebounds for the Beermen, who solidified their quarterfinals bid.
San Miguel’s depth and firepower were just too much for Blackwater, which kept it close in the first quarter after trailing by just two points before eventually sinking into a deep hole.
JM Calma added 16 points, Don Trollano had 15 markers while Jericho Cruz and Chris Ross got 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Beermen.
Head coach Leo Austria praised his men for being well-disciplined in sustaining their intensity despite breaking away by halftime.
“There’s no time for us to relax because in Blackwater’s game against Ginebra, they almost beat Ginebra. That gave us a lot of concern,” he said.
“I’m so happy with my players because they responded with what we’ve been talking about (Blackwater). They really wanted to win. Right now you don’t know whose gonna be in the top four and that’s our target. It’s still a scramble so every game is very important for us.”
San Miguel came out of the dugout smoking in the second half, pouring 34 points in the third canto that spelled doom for the Bossing, who were held down to 18 in the period.
Mo Tautuaa gave the Beermen their biggest margin, 113-76, off a booming triple with 1:14 left in the already decided match.
Blackwater slipped to a fifth defeat in a row for a 1-7 card tied with Terrafirma down the cellar.
Christian David had 15 points, RK Ilagan posted 14 markers while Sedrick Barefield’s presence was barely felt with a paltry five-point contribution.