San Miguel went on a tear in the third quarter and never looked back to send the hapless Titan Ultra skidding anew, 143-105, to bounce back in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Wednesday night.
The Beermen exploded for 49 big points in the said period alone, highlighted by a truly overwhelming 42-19 assault from a 68-all deadlock with 9:20 on the clock to head into the deciding chapter with a commanding 110-81 advantage.
Never would the Giant Risers fight back as their offense turned impotent all of a sudden, while the traditional contenders eventually returned to their winning ways after suffering a streak-busting 110-96 loss to NLEX the last time out.
SMB improved to 4-1 to stay at solo second behind the 4-0 Road Warriors in the Group A standings, as the opposition absorbed its fifth loss in six outings.
(C) PBA Images
“We tried to clean up the things that we had to clean up coming from the NLEX loss—sprinting back, turning the ball too much—kaya nakabawi kami,” said lead assistant Peter Martin, visibly happy with how they all responded from the L.
George King led the rout with 35 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Jerrick Ahanmisi rifled in 26 points—spiked by four triples and a four-pointer on a combined 50-percent accuracy—for his best game yet with San Miguel.
Don Trollano made 22 points and five rebounds off the bench while resident sniper Marcio Lassiter went 3-of-4 from three and finished with 13 markers.
It was the same quartet that bannered the breakaway, putting together a 30-5 attack from the aforementioned deadlock for the 98-73 lead late in the third.
They then went on to finish the period with 49, the most by any team since San Miguel itself had 51 in the third quarter of its 112-103 victory over Converge in the 2024 Philippine Cup, per league stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
That comfortable cushion allowed the coaching staff to rest their key players, with the reserves taking over to close the game.
It was the Beermen’s biggest victory since a 158-117 demolition of—coincidentally—Titan Ultra during the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup on November 25.
SMB will wrap up its first-round campaign against TNT this Saturday, August 1, at the Mall of Asia Arena in a rematch of the last Philippine Cup Finals.
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Joshua Munzon, on the other hand, had 25 points to lead the Giant Risers. Bryan Sajonia had 19 markers while Tirrell Brown added 15 on 14 shots.
The Scores:
San Miguel 143 – King 35, Ahanmisi 26, Trollano 22, Lassiter 13, Tautuaa 9, Cahilig 8,Calma 7, Fajardo 6, Teng 6, Cruz 5, Brondial 4, Calma 2, Mantua 2, Hernandez 0, Perez 0.
Titan Ultra 105 – Munzon 25, Sajonia 19, Brown 15, Javillonar 13, Yu 12, Balanza 9, Sumang 4, Omega 3, Ular 3, Pessumal 2, Dionisio 0, Cuntapay 0, Amores 0, Ambohot 0, Caralipio 0, Inigo 0.
Quarterscores: 38-31, 61-58, 110-81, 143-105.
