Simply unstoppable: SMB sinks NorthPort, seizes top quarterfinal seeding

San Miguel Beer grabbed a twice-to-beat advantage and the top seeding in the quarterfinals to boot after a 126-91 demolition of NorthPort for a strong Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup elimination round finish Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

CJ Perez came out smoking on all cylinders in a fiery opening quarter assault that set the tone for the blowout as the Beermen finished with an 8-3 win-loss record tied with idle NLEX and Magnolia.

“I just tried to be aggressive on offense and execute our plays, which our coaches have been emphasizing in practice,” Perez said.

San Miguel took the No. 1 spot via superior quotient and will take on the defending champion and eighth-seeded Meralco in an early opportunity for a payback against its finals tormentor last year.

Perez poured 11 of his game-high 24 points in the first period, shooting 11-of-19 from the field, while filling the stats box with five rebounds, one assist and one steal in just 21 minutes of action for the Beermen, who came into the game against an also-ran bottom-dwelling opponent with a sense of urgency.

“This game is very important to us because a win will get us into the Top Four with a twice-to-beat advantage. If we lose and Ginebra wins (against Rain or Shine in their game as of press time) we’ll fall to No. 5,” a relieved San Miguel head coach Leo Austria said.

The victory erased the pressure from the Beermen, who rebounded from a setback to Converge last week.

“For us, this is the start of our (virtual) best-of-three. We got one (win) and we need one more win in the quarterfinals to get into the semifinals,” Austria added.

“The players’ mindset was really to win. We outrebounded them. We outhustled them. The key is our defense. They know what our situation is.”

The Beermen were in full control right from the get-go and never allowed the Batang Pier to taste the lead or knot the count in the one-sided affair.

San Miguel lorded over the boards, 65-40, and converted 23 points off NorthPort’s 16 turnovers while putting in 31 second-chance points compared to just nine of the Batang Pier.

Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano added 17 points each, Mo Tautuaa had 14 while big man June Mar Fajardo posted a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds in just 19 minutes of play for the Beermen, who led by as many as 37.