San Miguel is halfway through bagging home another gold following a 109-85 masterclass against Magnolia in Game 2 of the PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup Finals, Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Unlike in the best-of-7 opener two nights ago, the Beermen needed little time to take control of the match and never relaxed whatsoever en route to building a 2-0 lead — two more from sweeping their way to the championship.
“It’s nothing. 2-0 is nothing,” said head coach Jorge Gallent. “We just achieved the 2-0 thing. We didn’t achieve what we still want to achieve.”
Bennie Boatwright led the way with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists as he bannered their strong first-half showing, registering 23 in it.
CJ Perez had 20 points while June Mar Fajardo made 19 and 14, nailing back-to-back triples inside the game’s final two minutes as SMB couldn’t seem to do any wrong while their counterparts helplessly absorbed another rout.
Marcio Lassiter contributed 11 points, spiked by a troika of triples, while Jericho Cruz chipped in 10 in the victory that saw the crew nail 16 treys.
The Beermen will gun for a commanding 3-0 lead in Game 3 on Wednesday, February 7, 7:30 p.m. at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“We have two more games to focus on,” said Gallent. “A sweep is not even in our minds. Our thing is how to get four games before them.”
Serving as the lone bright spot for Magnolia, on the other hand, was Tyler Bey, who finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds in the loss.
Bey and the Hotshots actually had a good start and held a one-point lead early, until Boatwright and Lassiter caught fire from beyond the arc and connived for a scorching 17-5 run for a 26-14 lead with under three minutes left in the first.
It would be all San Miguel from then on, with Gallent’s charges leading by as many as 28 points, 72-44, during the third quarter.
Mark Barroca made 11 points, while Russel Escoto proved his worth anew with 10 points and three rebounds as the other locals tried to step up on a night main gunner Paul Lee only mustered five points on a 1-of-7 clip from the field.
Calvin Abueva was hardly a factor also, as he only had three points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes in an outing marred by five personal fouls.
The Scores:
San Miguel 109 – Boatwright 34, Perez 20, Fajardo 19, Lassiter 11, Cruz 10, Trollano 5, Ross 3, Teng 2, Tautuaa 2, Jimenez 2, Mallilin 1, Romeo 0.
Magnolia 85 – Bey 22, Barroca 11, Escoto 10, Sangalang 8, Jalalon 6, Lee 5, Corpuz 5, Dela Ros 4, Mendoza 4, Abueva 3, Laput 3, Tratter 2, Eriobu 2, Ahanmisi 0, Dionisio 0.
Quarterscores: 31-25, 54-41, 79-58, 109-85.
