Terrence Watson proved his worth, helping the San Miguel Beermen end Barangay Ginebra’s seven-game streak, 107-103, Sunday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen have now won back-to-back games and improved their card to 5-3, while the Barangay have lost jist their second game this 2017 Governor’s Cup and dropped to 7-2, tied with the NLEX Road Warriors.
“Before this game we were worried. We were playing an ugly game,” said San Miguel head coach Leo Austria, recalling their unstable outings in the previous weeks. “Maybe nanalo kamin dito kasi they played a hard game last Friday.”
Alex Cabagnot, SMB’s closer, tallied 16 points on 14 shots, but it was debuting import Terrence Watson who impressed the most as he had 28 points and 17 rebounds. Arwind Santos produced 23 markers — 12 in the second frame.
With the Gin Kings rallying back from over 26 points down early to just nine, 85-94, after Mark Caguioa’s lay-up with 2:28 to go in the final frame, Cabagnot nailed a corner triple to restore order for SMB, 97-85, with 2:10 remaining.
Moments later, Ginebra got to the closest they had, 101-93, after LA Tenorio’s trey off Arwind Santos’ goaltend. But then again, Cabagnot rose to the occasion, converting a jumper over Caguioa to make it 103-93 with 54 ticks left.
The Barangay though made one final surge, 100-105, after a Joe Devance trifecta from the top with nine seconds to go, but Cabagnot’s perfect charities over a second later gave the Beermen the lead for good.
Chris Ross fired 20 points along with four caroms, five dimes, and four steals for San Miguel. June Mar Fajardo continues to rack up double-doubles, scoring 10 points on 12 shots and hauling down 15 rebounds.
Japeth Aguilar led Ginebra’s balanced attack with 18 points and seven rebounds. LA Tenorio had 17 markers, seven boards, and six dimes, while Greg Slaughter supplied 16 points and seven rebounds as well.
Justin Brownlee was limited to 14 points, but still managed to garner 12 rebounds, seven assists, and five blocks. However, he was forced to commit five turnovers.
Both team’s next games will be on Saturday, September 16, at the Mall of Asia Arena. San Miguel will face the still winless Kia Picanto at 3:00 PM, while Ginebra will battle Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at 5:15 PM.
The Scores:
San Miguel 107 – Watson 28, Santos 23, Ross 20, Cabagnot 16, Fajardo 10, Lassiter 7, Rosser 3, Heruela 0, De Ocampo 0.
Ginebra 103 – Aguilar J. 18, Tenorio 17, Slaughter 16, Brownlee 14, Ferrer 11, Thompson 7, Caguioa 3, Mercado 2, Aguilar R. 0, Taha 0.
Quarterscores: 30-16, 56-33, 87-65, 107-103.
