Defending champion San Miguel Beer unleashed a third-quarter storm and weathered Barangay Ginebra’s fightback in a 91-85 Game 3 win to regain the lead in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup semifinals showdown Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Don Trollano picked up the scoring slack of cold-shooting big man June Mar Fajardo, putting up 33 points on 11-of-21 clip from the field as the Beermen won back-to-back for a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series.

Trollano silenced the Kings’ rally in the fourth that trimmed their once-imposing 18-point deficit to just four points by completing a three-point play for a 90-83 lead with 2:42 left in the game to restore order.

“My teammates and coaches trusted me. Good thing it went in because if it didn’t then we’ll be in trouble since Ginebra was making a run,” Trollano said.

CJ Perez added 19 markers while Mo Tautuaa scored 13 for the Beermen, who will try to extend their lead on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Fajardo, who averaged 24 points and 23 rebounds in the first two games of the series, was bothered by shoulder pain and was limited to just six markers on 1-of-8 field goal shooting. He pulled down 19 boards with four assists for the Beermen.

San Miguel ignited a 16-0 run in the third canto to turn a 49-50 deficit into a 65-50 advantage with 5:36 remaining.

The Beermen went up 70-52 with under four minutes left in the third quarter but saw it trimmed down to 87-83 after an RJ Abarrientos basket with 3:05 remaining in the ball game.

Trollano answered with an and-one play before Fajardo made a split from the line for a 91-83 lead with 2:31 left.

Scottie Thompson had a near double-double of 17 points and nine rebounds while Japeth Aguilar and Abarrientos added 14 each for Ginebra.