San Miguel Beermen bucked a slow start to send also-ran Blackwater Elite on an unpleasant exit, 124-113, and keep their hopes of a top-two finish for the conference playoffs beating, Wednesday night at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The victory improves San Miguel’s card to 8-2., and they will have a chance to finish as the second-seeded team on Friday, if they defeat current eighth-seed Globalport Batang Pier this Friday, June 2, at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“I think that game is the scariest game we had all season. We were down by 16,” rued San Miguel head coach Leo Austria about the win. “We cannot afford to play like that in the playoffs because all the teams are on their feet.”
Charles Rhodes paced San Miguel’s balanced attack with 32 markers on an excellent 13-of-16 shooting alongside nine rebounds and three assists. June Mar Fajardo backed up his frontcourt mate with 27 points and seven boards.
The Beermen erased a wide 16-point, 72-56 deficit at the half through an 18-2 surge ended by a Marcio Lassiter lay-up off a steal to tie things up at 74 with 7:55 left in the third. Both squads engaged in a tight battle from that point.
The Elite though lost grip late in the final frame. San Miguel then took advantage, scoring six straight punctuated by a Ross-Rhodes alley-oop play to post a 120-109 lead with 1:26 left to play, enough to hold off their counterparts.
“This is a lesson for us to not take this kind of teams for granted. They have the materials,” added Austria.
Lassiter supplied 18 points and a notable eight steals for San Miguel. Chris Ross added 14 points and 13 dimes, while Arwind Santos and Gabby Espinas chipped in 13 and 10 markers, respectively, off the bench.
Greg Smith powered the already-ousted Blackwater with 21 points, 22 rebounds, and five assists, while the troika of Mike DiGregorio, KG Cañaleta, and Mark Cruz each produced 16 markers in the defeat.
Both teams shot an identical 47 percent from the floor, but the Beermen rotated the ball better as they dished out 30 assists. They also forced the Elite to commit 27 turnovers, which they turned to 30 points.
San Miguel’s final assignment against Globalport is set at 4:15 PM.
The Scores:
San Miguel (124) – Rhodes 32, Fajardo 28, Lassiter 21, Ross 14, Santos 13, Espinas 10, Cabagnot 6, Tubid 0, Reyes 0, Heruela 0.
Blackwater (113) – Smith 21, Digregorio 16, Canaleta 16, Cruz 16, Pinto 11, Cervantes 10, Sena 8, Aguilar 7, Gamalinda 5, Buenafe 3, Pascual 0, Erram 0.
Quarterscores: 30-32, 56-72, 90-96, 124-113.
