San Miguel survived a sloppy endgame and escaped Converge by way of a 102-95 decision to gain the head start in their PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup quarterfinal affair, Thursday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Beermen appeared to be cruising to a double-digit victory when they held a 97-81 lead with only 3:45 remaining in the game, but their mismanagement allowed the FiberXers to come within just four, 99-95, in the closing moments.
Fortunately for the perennial contenders, Deschon Winston missed a triple and JL Delos Santos overcooked his forward pass to the latter, as the opposition couldn’t come as close as they would have wanted with those plays.
It didn’t help Converge’s cause as well that it could no longer find the mark, and EJ Anosike went on to seal the deal through a perfect trip to the charity stripe with 13.1 seconds left as SMB grabbed the 1-0 lead in the best-of-5 tilt.
“In the endgame, it was just composure,” said head coach Jorge Gallent. “We wanted to close the game really quick but we should’ve just held the ball a bit longer. We made quite a few mistakes, that’s why the lead went down.”
Anosike top-scored for San Miguel with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists to submit a solid PBA debut as the replacement of Jordan Adams.
June Mar Fajardo came through with his own double-double of 25 points and 16 rebounds, together with three assists, two steals, and three blocks without a single turnover in the 40 minutes and 11 seconds he saw action.
CJ Perez and Kris Rosales made 11 points apiece, with the latter scoring all of his points in the third quarter alone as he powered San Miguel’s 30-point showing that gave themselves an 85-72 lead entering the deciding chapter.
“Sabi nga ni Coach, importante sa series ang Game 1, kailangang makuha namin ito, ” said Fajardo, who earned Player of the Game honors.
The Beermen will look to build a commanding 2-0 lead against Converge on Saturday, September 28, 5 p.m. at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Import Jalen Jones, on the other hand, led the FiberXers with 22 points on 24 shots and 12 rebounds in the fightback that fell just short.
Justin Arana made 20 points and six rebounds. Winston supplied 17 points and five boards while King Caralipio added 10 in the loss.
The Scores:
San Miguel 102 – Anosike 28, Fajardo 25, Perez 11, Rosales 11, Trollano 6, Cruz 6, Romeo 4, Ross 4, Lassiter 3, Enciso 3, Brondial 1.
Converge 95 – Jones 22, Arana 20, Winston 17, Caralipio 10, Delos Santos 7, Stockton 5, Ambohot 5, Cabagnot 3, Andrade 3, Santos 3, Nieto 0.
Quarterscores: 30-23, 55-50, 85-72, 102-95.
