Anchored by their primary protagonists and a suffocating fourth quarter defense, the two-time defending All-Filipino Cup champions San Miguel Beermen opened their season with a 96-88 win against the Star Hotshots on PBA Opening Night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
Three-time league MVP June Mar Fajardo once again led the Beermen with 25 points, 16 rebounds, on an 11-of-16 clip from the floor. Alex Cabagnot added 22 points, eight assists and two steals.
A nip-and-tuck first half saw the Beermen led by eight points after their usual cogs of Cabagnot, Fajardo and Arwind Santos propel San Miguel to an early lead. Despite early miscues by Star, however, they were able to hang on and trade baskets that they used to fuel their second half surge.
Paul Lee played in his first game sporting a Hotshot jersey and shrugged off the cold start he had during the game’s first two periods. The ‘Angas ng Tondo’ converted ten of his 12 markers during the third to ignited Star’s attempt to turnaround the match.
The guard-filled crew of Star, which included Jio Jalalon, Mark Barroca, and Allain Maliksi gave Hotshots its biggest lead of the game at nine during the final period. Fortunately for the Beermen, the reinsertion of their starters down the stretch provided the game’s deciding 19-2 closeout to seal the deal.
“Never kami naglalaro ng first game sa opening day ng season,” said coach Leo Austria after the game. “Then yung mga opening games namin natatalo pa kami. Of course I’m so happy with this result and I have to commend the players especially the starters.”
The starters of the Beermen accounted for the team’s 80 points led by Fajardo’s game-long prowess. He admitted after the game that he had a tough time dealing on both ends of the floor in the first game, but credited his teammates en route to their win.
“Thank God na nanalo kami. Nahirapan ako sa pick and roll. Mago-opensa and depensa pa ako sa kabila, pero buti andun yung teammates ko and natutulungan nila ako,” said Fajardo.
The Beermen’s defense exposed Star’s chemistry issues with the latter’s new faces, as the Hotshots yielded 30 turnovers. SMB also had more assists at 21 to 13, and shot 15-of-26 from the foul stripe, compared to only 7-of-10 from Star.
Barroca and Lee combined for 25 points to pace Star on 9/24 shooting. Jalalon added 11 points and five boards in his PBA debut, while Maliksi chipped in 10 in the loss.
The Scores:
San Miguel (96) – Fajardo 25, Cabagnot 22, Santos 17, Lassiter 11, Ross 7, Tubid 6, Espinas 5, Reyes 3, Garcia 1, Agovida 0.
Star (88) – Barroca 13, Lee 12, Jalalon 11, Maliksi 10, Simon 9, Sangalang 8, Pingris 7, Ramos 6, Melton 6, Reavis 2, Pascual 2, Brondial 2.
Quarterscores: 26-24, 51-43, 75-79, 96-88.
