San Miguel suffered its second consecutive loss in the 2024-25 East Asia Super League (EASL) season, falling to P.League+ club Taoyuan, 101-85, in a scuffle-marred match at the Philsports Arena in Pasig on Wednesday.
The reigning PBA Commissioner’s Cup champions struggled throughout the game, especially in the second quarter where they were outscored 28-13.
The Beermen were unable to recover from the deficit, leaving them with little chance to mount a comeback in the later stages of the game.
However, the match was overshadowed by a physical altercation that led to the ejection of Jericho Cruz.
The incident occurred at the 6:32 mark of the final quarter with the Pilots already ahead, 86-68.
Cruz and the Pilots big man Alec Brown tangled up in a hard foul, with Cruz hacking Brown’s hand, which led to a brief scuffle.
The situation quickly escalated when Brown, clearly frustrated with the physicality, elbowed Cruz.
As players from both teams stepped in to separate the two, Cruz retaliated by landing a closed fist on Brown, prompting an immediate ejection.
The altercation resulted in multiple penalties: Brown received a personal and technical foul, while San Miguel’s Quincy Miller was handed an unsportsmanlike foul for his involvement in the incident.
Miller, who had been the standout performer for San Miguel with 32 points, found little support from the Beermen in the loss.
While Miller fought to keep his team in the game, San Miguel’s offense struggled, with the duo of CJ Perez and June Mar Fajardo combining for just 13 points.
Fajardo did manage to pull down 11 rebounds, but his efforts weren’t enough to spark a Beermen rally.
EJ Anosike also had a quiet performance, contributing only eight points while Don Trollano added 13 points.
Taoyuan, on the other hand, was led by a balanced scoring attack.
Alec Brown finished with 25 points, while Treveon Graham added 25 points and seven assists.
Lu Chunhsiang also contributed 25 points for the Pilots, who improved to 2-0 in Group A.
The Scores:
Taoyuan 101 – Brown 27, Graham 25, Lu 25, Pai 11, Li 5, Lin 2, Dieng 2, Chen 2, Kuan 2, Lin 0, Qiao 0.
San Miguel 85 – Miller 32, Trollano 13, Anosike 8, Perez 8, Fajardo 7, Tautuaa 5, Romeo 4, Cruz 4, Rosales 3, Ross 1, Teng 0, Brondial 0.
Quarterscores: 25-20; 57-33; 83-56; 101-85.
