San Miguel continued its perfect run in the PBA Governors’ Cup after downing Meralco, 96-84, Thursday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Cameron Clark led the way with 28 points, 16 of which he made in the second half that included the dagger jumper with 30.8 seconds left to shut the door on the Bolts — and secure their fifth win in as many outings.
He also had 12 rebounds and five assists to help steer the Beermen to their best start since also going 5-0 to open the 2017-18 Philippine Cup.
“Cam is a big, big factor in this 5-0 start. He’s doing a great job. Hats off to him and the players, all of them are playing hard,” said coach Jorge Gallent.
CJ Perez finished with 19 points and five rebounds as he helped out the comebacking import in finishing the match from a slim 85-81 lead.
Jericho Cruz made 13 points while June Mar Fajardo tallied his own double-double with 11 markers and 14 rebounds in the victory.
“This 5-0, the credit is all to the players. They are really doing a good job of listening and learning, especially listening to the defensive and offensive schemes of the team,” said Gallent.
San Miguel will only have a day to regroup as it battles the 4-1 Converge next on Saturday, 6:45 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
KJ McDaniels, meanwhile, was held to just a conference-low 18 points on 20 shots and 13 shots for Meralco, who fell to 3-2.
Chris Newsome also had 18 points and five assists while Allein Maliksi supplied 16 markers in the loss.
The Bolts will have a lengthy period of rest as they won’t play until next Friday, Feb. 17, versus TNT also at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
San Miguel 94 – Clark 28, Perez 19, Cruz 13, Fajardo 11, Enciso 8, Lassiter 7, Bulanadi 6, Ross 2, Tautuaa 0, Brondial 0.
Meralco 86 – McDaniels 18, Newsome 18, Maliksi 16, Banchero 7, Black 5, Pasaol 5, Hodge 4, Caram 3, Quinto 3, Almazan 3, Jose 2, Pascual 2.
Quarterscores: 18-14, 44-33, 69-63, 94-86
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
