San Miguel needed some help from Lady Luck in the endgame to survive Rain or Shine, 101-98, to gain a head start in their PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup semifinal series on Friday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The Beermen saw their eight-point lead become just three following Andrei Caracut’s split with 31.4 seconds left, and it did not help that Don Trollano air-balled what could’ve been the dagger approaching the final 11 seconds.
But the reigning champions breathed a huge sigh of relief when Caracut missed the potential game-tying triple with exactly four seconds left, and Chris Ross collecting the rebound was all enough for them to escape with the narrow win.
“Tonight it was really good, but we just have to minimize our turnovers,” said head coach Jorge Gallent after his side committed 16 errors.
June Mar Fajardo led San Miguel with a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds with five assists — that, after scoring just six in the first half.
Much of the defense was doubling down on him but the seven-time MVP was more concerned with rebounding, especially after he and the Beermen allowed the opposition to collect a total of 15 offensive boards.
“May mga lapses sa depensa, lalo na sa second chance points so kailangan naming i-work out iyon,” said the 6-foot-10 Fajardo.
Trollano, despite the bad miss, still came through with 17 points and six boards as he spearheaded the bench support together with guard Terrence Romeo (14 points) and Mo Tautua’a (seven points, 11 rebounds).
Marcio Lassiter went 4-of-6 from deep and finished with 16 points while CJ Perez, despite a 6-of-19 clip from the floor, supplied 13 markers.
Leading RoS, meanwhile, was Gian Mamuyac, who had 20 points for his second 20-point outing in a row. He also had seven rebounds.
Beau Belga made 17 points, including nine in the third alone as he led the Elasto Painters’ surge that saw them take the lead four times.
Jhonard Clarito and Santi Santillan had 13 apiece in the loss. Their last play was intended for Clarito for the game-tying trey but it was not executed properly, leaving Caracut with no choice but to take it as the ball landed on his hands.
Game 2 is on Sunday, May 19, still at the MoA Arena.
The Scores:
San Miguel 101 – Fajardo 23, Trollano 17, Lassiter 16, Romeo 14, Perez 13, Tautuaa 7, Brondial 6, Teng 3, Cruz 2, Ross 0, Enciso 0.
Rain or Shine 98 – Mamuyac 20, Belga 17, Clarito 13, Santillan 13, Caracut 9, Demusis 6, Datu 6, Borboran 5, Ildefonso 4, Asistio 3, Norwood 2, Nocum 0, Paredes 0.
Quarterscores: 31-24, 49-44, 82-78, 101-98.
