San Miguel secured the top seed of the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup after beating an undermanned NLEX, 120-103, Sunday night at the Philsports Arena.
The Beermen pulled away for good in the third as the crew took advantage of Robert Bolick’s absence for the Road Warriors on the way to their first 9-0 start in 35 years or since the Open Conference of the 1989 Grand Slam year.
Clinching the no. 1 seed also meant that the defending conference champions had locked the first of two twice-to-beat incentives for the quarterfinals.
“Gusto namin manalo, gusto namin makuha ang No. 1. Ang challenge ngayon sa amin eh dumerecho pa sa panalo,” said June Mar Fajardo.
CJ Perez top-scored in the triumph with a game-high 30 points and nine rebounds to lead SMB in equaling its all-time longest winning streak in franchise history at 11, according to league stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
Their streak dates back to Games 5 and 6 of the Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup, which they ruled at the expense of long-time rivals Magnolia.
Fajardo came through with a rare 20-20 performance as he finished with 20 points and 21 rebounds, together with an assist and a block.
Terrence Romeo and Jericho Cruz supplied 15 points apiece, while Marcio Lassiter and Don Trollano added 14 each for San Miguel.
Now at 9-0, the Beermen are now two games away from an elimination round sweep, which they will look to accomplish against Blackwater on May 1 — still at Philsports — and Meralco on May 4 at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Rookie Enoch Valdez, on the other hand, had 18 points and eight rebounds to lead the Road Warriors sans main man Bolick, who attended to his wife Cassandra after giving birth to their son, Zachary Wardell Robert.
Jhan Nermal had 16 points and five rebounds. Matt Nieto had 14 points while Sean Anthony made 12 for NLEX, which reeled to its third straight loss and fell to 5-4, creating a three-way tie at third with Magnolia and TNT.
Coach Frankie Lim and Co. are down to their last two games as well in the preliminaries against Rain or Shine (May 3) and Ginebra (May 5).
The Scores:
San Miguel 120 – Perez 30, Fajardo 20, Romeo 15, Cruz 15, Lassiter 14, Trollano 14, Enciso 6, Brondial 4, Teng 2, Tautuaa 0, Ross 0.
NLEX 103 – Valdez 18, Nermal 16, Nieto 14, Anthony 12, Herndon 11, Rodger 8, Miranda 7, Semerad 7, Fajardo 4, Amer 2, Taha 2.
Quarterscores: 25-15, 50-41, 83-71, 120-103.
