Playing without veteran rookie Christian Standhardinger, the San Miguel Beermen took care of business by downing the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in overtime, 104-97, Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Beermen have now collected their second straight victory in the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup to improve to 2-3, while the Gin Kings absorbed their third straight defeat and now carry a dismal 1-5 card.
“We know from the start that this will be an exciting game, because both of us, at 1-3 and 1-4, are struggling this conference, and this game is very important,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria. “Fortunately we’re able to win.
“And I think it could be a good morale-booster for us going to the next game namin,” added the reigning, three-time Coach of the Year.
Renaldo Balkman led the Beermen with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and three assists against nine turnovers, while June Mar Fajardo showed yet another MVP performance with 24 points, 19 rebounds, a steal, and a block.
Things were actually bleak for San Miguel at the tail-end of regulation, as they saw themselves trailing, 91-93, after Sol Mercado split his charities off an Arwind Santos foul with just three seconds left on the clock.
But the defending champions chose to fight the pressure and the hostile Barangay crowd. Fajardo stepped up to the plate, turning to his signature turnaround fadeaway jumper to tie the game at 93-all with 1.1 ticks left.
Ginebra tried to save themselves, but Joe Devance’s inbound was stolen by Balkman.
The Beermen then ran past the Gin Kings in the extra period. Santos opened the OT with a huge triple, and that sparked a 9-2 rally to propel them to a 102-95 lead with 2:01 left to play — more than enough to keep the Barangay down and out.
Santos had 19 points and eight boards, while Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross scored 11 and 10, respectively.
San Miguel played without Standhardinger as the Filipino-German forward, according Austria, is currently having issues with his knee.
Justin Brownlee had 18 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists in a losing effort. Japeth Aguilar contributed 17 points and seven rebounds, while Joe Devance finished with 15 markers, all from three-pointers.
San Miguel will look to extend their streak versus the Columbian Dyip on Wednesday, June 6, 7:00 PM, at SMART Araneta Coliseum, while Ginebra will look to get out of their funk against the NLEX Road Warriors on June 9, Saturday, 5:00 PM in Legazpi City.
The Scores:
San Miguel 104 – Balkman 27, Fajardo 24, Santos 19, Lassiter 11, Ross 10, Cabagnot 9, Mamaril 4, Rosser 0.
Ginebra 97 – Brownlee 18, Aguilar 17, Devance 15, Thompson 13, Cruz 10, Slaughter 9, Mercado 8, Tenorio 7, Ferrer 0.
Quarterscores: 23-20, 47-43, 71-73, 93-93, 104-97.
