After tasting its first defeat in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors' Cup, San Miguel Beer got back on the winning track beating NorthPort, 145-132, Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The 145 points produced by San Miguel was the most in more than three decades. On 27 September 1992, the Beermen defeated Seven-Up (151-127) in the Third Conference of that season.
Cameron Clark finished with a career-high 44 points to go along with nine rebounds and seven assists while six-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo and two-time scoring champion CJ Perez also had solid games.
The Beermen notched their sixth win in seven games to forge a tie for the lead with TNT.
Fajardo hit 11-of-13 shots from the field for 29 points while also pulling down 12 boards to make up for his sub-par performance last time around. He only ended with seven points during the team's 107-103 loss to Converge.
"My teammates were setting me up," said Fajardo. "I need to make them."
Perez, on the other hand, wound up with 24 markers on 9-of-13 shooting from the field.
Although they were able to pick up a win, Beermen coach Jorge Gallent felt they didn't do well defensively and that's something he doesn't want to happen especially in this grueling stretch where they will face equally elite teams like Barangay Ginebra and TNT.
"I'm shocked we had 46 assists, which was great, but our defense is terrible today. We allowed them 132 points," added Gallent. "If we play Ginebra, we've got to play sharp. We cannot start sluggish. We have to be sharp for 48 minutes."
The Beermen will face the Gin Kings on Friday at 5:45 p.m. and the Tropang Giga on Sunday at 6:45 p.m.
"It's gonna be tough," added Gallent. "This week will be really tough for us. We just have to treat it one game at a time."
The Scores:
SAN MIGUEL 145 – Clark 44, Fajardo 29, Perez 24, Lassiter 16, Manuel 12, Cruz 9, Bulanadi 5, Enciso 3, Tautuaa 3, Brondial 0, Ross 0
NORTHPORT 132 – Murphy 39, Tolentino 32, Bolick 16, Zamar 14, Calma 11, Chan 9, Caperal 4, Ayaay 4, Munzon 3, Balagasay 0, Taha 0
QUARTERS: 40-36, 72-67, 108-96, 145-132