San Miguel showed Rain or Shine the door, 127-122, to reach the PBA Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals, Friday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Beermen erupted for 42 big points in the third quarter — nearly doubling their counterparts’ output — but needed to fend off the Elasto Painters’ rally in the endgame before formally completing half of the next round’s ensemble.
Now they wait for the winner between Barangay Ginebra and NorthPort for their opponents in the semis. The two will face off at 8 p.m. later in the night.
“We have to wait first to see who wins that series and then that’s our time to prepare. As of now, it’s blank. We’re just in a waiting game now. But either we face NorthPort or Ginebra, we will be ready,” said coach Jorge Gallent.
Bennie Boatwright starred for SMB anew with a game-high 41 points on five three-pointers, on top of 10 rebounds, four assists, and a block.
Jericho Cruz supplied 20 points as he overcame a bad fall late in the third canto.
Terrence Romeo made 15 points, as Chris Ross tallied a 14-3-2 stat line.
June Mar Fajardo delivered 13 points and 13 rebounds with five assists, three steals, and a block while CJ Perez added 11 markers and seven dimes.
Tree Treadwell, meanwhile, made 22 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists to lead Rain or Shine, who made life difficult for SMB especially in the first half.
The Elasto Painters actually trailed by double digits during the first two quarters but the no-quit squad managed to tie it up at 67-all entering the break.
San Miguel then turned it up in the third chapter but that didn’t stop the crew of Coach Yeng Guiao from trying, as evidenced by their rally that saw them get to within single digits after being down by as much as 22 points.
However, they could not complete the comeback, and Rain or Shine would go on to witness the tough end to their conference as the buzzer rang.
Still, none of them bowed their heads, for it was still a run to remember as they managed to turn around a campaign that started with five straight losses. They won six straight to end the eliminations to reach the playoffs.
A total of eight players finished in double figures for RoS. Rey Nambatac made 16 points, while rookies Keith Datu and Adrian Nocum had 14 each.
Gian Mamuyac delivered 13 points. Andrei Caracut had 12, while Santi Santillan and Jhonard Clarito added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Scores:
San Miguel 127 – Boatwright 41, Cruz 20, Romeo 15, Ross 14, Fajardo 13, Perez 11, Lassiter 6, Trollano 4, Tautuaa 3.
Rain or Shine 122 – Treadwell 22, Nambatac 16, Datu 14, Nocum 14, Mamuyac 13, Caracut 12, Santillan 11, Clarito 10, Belga 7, Norwood 3.
Quarterscores: 36-32, 67-67, 109-89, 127-122.
