San Miguel sent Blackwater crashing back to earth following a 105-86 rout in the PBA Governors’ Cup, Wednesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Beermen outscored the opposition 30-11 in the second quarter to mount a commanding 63-35 lead at the break, and would keep their double-digit edge all throughout the contest en route to going 2-0 in the conference.
SMB has created a three-way logjam at no. 2 in the standings with NLEX and TNT, both of which are set to face off in the nightcap, following the victory.
“What’s nice about this conference is our import came early,” said head coach Jorge Gallent of their start. “We didn’t have problems unlike last conference. We’re very happy Cam arrived early and he’s doing a great job.”
Just like in its decimation of Phoenix the last time out, a balanced attack did wonders for San Miguel, with Jericho Cruz leading the way with 22 points.
Import Cameron Clark finished with 20 points, 14 of which he made in the first half, and nine rebounds. June Mar Fajardo had 17 points and 16 rebounds.
CJ Perez made 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while Marcio Lassiter added 13 markers as five Beermen finished in twin digits.
San Miguel will look to stretch its unbeaten streak against the 1-1 Terrafirma on Friday, 3 p.m. at the Ynares Center in Antipolo — a prelude to its rivalry match versus Magnolia on Sunday at SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Shawn Glover, meanwhile, led Blackwater with 16 points and 12 rebounds against seven turnovers in their second loss of the tourney.
Joshua Torralba had 11 points while RK Ilagan added 10 for the Bossing, who failed to follow up their 108-105 win over the Fuel Masters.
Torralba actually nailed the game’s first bucket following a triple but that proved to be the only time his team would lead in the match.
Blackwater (1-2) will go back to action on Saturday as it takes on Meralco (2-1) also at Ynares Antipolo. Tip-off is at 6:45 p.m.
The Scores:
San Miguel 105 – Cruz 22, Clark 20, Fajardo 17, Perez 14, Lassiter 13, Enciso 9, Tautuaa 7, Ross 3, Bulanadi 0, Brondial 0.
Blackwater 86 – Glover 16, Torralba 11, Ilagan 10, Taha 8, Banal 8, Hill 8, Ular 6, Casio 6, Ayonayon 5, Amer 4, Suerte 2, Escoto 2, DiGregorio 0.
Quarterscores: 33-24, 63-35, 83-68, 105-86
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
