SAN Miguel Beer took to heart its endgame slip-up the last time out and sprang back with a wire-to-wire 104-93 win over Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.
CJ Perez led SMB's balanced attack with 23 points, including two booming four-pointers that thwarted Ginebra's siege and carried the Beermen through to their third win in four starts.
Don Trollano, June Mar Fajardo, Jericho Cruz, Juami Tiongson and Marcio Lassiter also lit up the board in a hot San Miguel shooting which the Kings couldn't match in their second game in the season-ending Philippine Cup.
Coach Tim Cone's troops just couldn't hit a good rhythm and missed a followup bid on their 101-80 rout of Terrafirma in their conference debut on Wednesday.
From a 30-point game, Japeth Aguilar limped to a 12-point outing versus the Beermen who bounced back strong from their 95-98 loss to the Magnolia Hotshots the last time out.
Sponsored content:
The Beermen were unstoppable force in this game, hitting at high 51.9-percent clip with Trollano finishing with 19 points, JMF with 18, Cruz with 11 and Tiongson and Lassiter with 10 apiece.
With guns blazing, the Beermen took the first canto at 25-11, led by as many as 23 and held leads of no less than 12 all the way to the finish.
The Kings twice threatened a rally but, as they came to within 12, found Perez unloading a four-point bomb each time.
At 87-75, Perez dropped a four-ball then a three-pointer to personally scuttle the Kings' final hurrah.
The Beermen battered the Kings on all fronts on the way to establishing a 48-30 lead at the half.
Sponsored content:
Though dragged to a low-scoring first-half duel, the Beermen took command with their own efficient defense, holding the Kings to a woeful 30-percent clip.
A big disparity was San Miguel converting 50 percent its three-point tries (8-of-16) while Ginebra bleeding with just one-of-eight from downtown.
Trollano led the way for SMB with three treys and a total of 11 in the opening half where Fajardo was good for eight markers and the same number of rebounds.
For Ginebra, not one player hit twin digits in the first two quarters.(SB)
The scores:
San Miguel 104 - Perez 23, Trollano 19, Fajardo 18, Cruz 11, Tiongson 10, Lassiter 10, Rosales 8, Calma 4, Teng 1, Brondial 0, Cahilig 0, Tautuaa 0, Ross 0.
Ginebra 93 - Rosario 24, Holt 16, Malonzo 16, Thompson 14, J. Aguilar 12, Abarrientos 6, Pinto 3, Ahanmisi 2, Cu 0, R. Aguilar 0, Adamos 0.
Quarterscores: 25-11, 48-30, 83-65, 104-93
