ANTIPOLO — George King saved San Miguel from falling victim to Terrafirma by coming through in the clutch for the 109-104 victory to stay unbeaten in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center here, Saturday.
The super scorer finished with a game-high of 37 points and 14 rebounds, as he took matters into his own hands when the going got tough by scoring four straight to put them ahead for good, 105-104, with 39.1 seconds remaining.
Free throws by CJ Perez and Don Trollano in the game’s final 4.4 seconds proved to be enough to prevent being chopped by the upset axe.
(C) PBA Images
“We were fortunate there. It could’ve easily been Terrafirma before you guys today,” offered King in the postgame presser, visibly relieved that they managed to pull off the great escape. “Luckily, our defense at that moment turned up.”
The traditional powerhouse led by as many as 22, but the Dyip, similar to what they did in their last two games, roared back and even took the 104-101 lead with 1:21 on the clock following, ironically, a Juami Tiongson triple.
But King and Perez came through with huge steals on the former Beerman, keying the comeback that eventually enabled the whole squad to tally their second win in as many games, putting them behind 3-0 teams NLEX and Converge.
“At the end of the day, it was the defense that got us the win tonight,” said deputy Peter Martin as he once again stood in for the ailing Leo Austria.
Now we can say a win is a win. I think they outhustled us, they outplayed us, they outcoached us. The coaching staff of the other side was better than me today,” added the long-time assistant while tipping his hat to their foes.
Perez finished with 22 points, four rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Trollano rifled in 17 for San Miguel, which has also welcomed back June Mar Fajardo after sitting out in their 123-109 debut win versus Macau.
(C) PBA Images
Leading Terrafirma, on the other hand, was import Justin Strings with 28 points and 12 rebounds in their loss, which is now their third straight.
Tiongson had 27 points against his previous team, spiked by a 5-of-10 clip from the first arc. Maverick Ahanmisi supplied 20 points, seven rebounds, and six assists as the star guards helped lead the comeback trail from a 68-46 deficit.
“Hindi kami nagkulang sa paalala because in the dugout that’s the first thing we told them,” said Martin. “We reminded them that Terrafirma came back from 20 points down in the fourth quarter against two teams, NLEX and Converge.”
The Scores:
San Miguel 109 – Kings 37, Perez 22, Trollano 17, Ahanmisi 9, Brondial 8, Tautuaa 6, Cruz 6, Fajardo 2, Hernandez 2, Cahilig 0, Ross 0.
Terrafirma 104 – Strings 28, Tiongson 27, Ahanmisi 20, Paraiso 10, Chiu 9, Bravo 8, Mariano 2, Umali 0, Catapusan 0, Eriobu 0.
Quarterscores: 22-15, 66-46, 81-73, 109-104.
