San Miguel breathed life into its quarterfinal bid in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup following a 103-92 come-from-behind win over Meralco in another meeting between rivals at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Tuesday night.
The Beermen fell to a blazing 19-2 start by the Bolts but managed to recover, then turned things around in the third before seizing full control in the deciding period on the way to bouncing back from a stunning loss to Blackwater.
Don Trollano powered the pivotal 10-2 run for the 90-79 lead with less than nine minutes remaining to swing the momentum in their favor for good, and that proved to be a cushion good enough to ward off their foes’ late-game fightback.
Bennie Boatwright, June Mar Fajardo, and CJ Perez all came through with the finishing touches in the final 53.2 seconds to eventually climb to no. 7 in the standings, dislodging Magnolia (4-5) as they improved to 5-5.
(C) PBA Images
“That’s one thing na we want to arrest, our slow start. Pinag-uusapan namin ‘yan eh. But we have to understand that Meralco is coming off 11 days of break, so we knew that they were very energetic,” said head coach Leo Austria.
“Luckily, ‘yung sense of urgency ng team, hindi nawala. ‘Yun ang ineexpect ko dahil this game is really important for us,” he added. “We need to win in order for us to not be eliminated dahil very close ang teams sa bottom four.”
Nine-time MVP Fajardo led SMB with 19 points and 17 rebounds. Trollano produced 16 points off the bench, earning Player of the Game honors in a commendable return after missing the last two games due to a back injury.
The seasoned winger scored six in the fourth alone, all of which he made in the aforementioned rally as his timely hits proved to be the difference, none bigger than the four from the top to finish off the decisive scoring run.
Boatwright, despite shooting a horrid 5-for-20 from the floor that saw him miss all seven of his shots from beyond the arcs, still finished with 16 points as well on top of 11 rebounds and four assists in the 37 minutes he played.
Perez made 14 points, albeit on 15 shots, while Mo Tautua’a fell just short of notching his own double-double performance with 12 points and eight boards.
San Miguel will now look to sweep its remaining matches in the eliminations–first against Terrafirma on May 6 and then Phoenix on the 9th–to formalize its entry to the playoffs’ opening round, which starts shortly after May 10.
(C) PBA Images
Marvin Jones led Meralco with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Chris Newsome backed him up with 18 points and five boards while CJ Cansino and Chris Banchero chipped in 12 markers apiece in the meltdown.
As tough as the loss was, the Bolts still showed some fight, especially in the endgame, with Jones, Cansino, and Javee Mocon generating an 8-1 run to cut the gap to just one possession, 96-92, approaching the game’s final minute.
But Boatwright killed their momentum with a perfect trip to the foul line–a trip he got off a Newsome foul. Fajardo then followed it up with a split, before Perez knocked down a four in the closing seconds with the quotient in mind.
Meralco, as a result, fell outside the Top Four and is currently at no. 5 with a 5-3 record. Coach Luigi Trillo and his men will look to revive their twice-to-beat hopes when they face Ginebra this Friday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The Scores:
San Miguel 103 – Fajardo 19, Boatwright 16, Trollano 16, Perez 14, Tautuaa 12, Ross 9, Cruz 7, Rosales 5, Lassiter 3, Tiongson 2.
Meralco 92 – Jones 26, Newsome 18, Cansino 12, Banchero 12, Mocon 9, Hodge 6, Quinto 4, Brinckman 4, Bates 1, Black 0, Pascual 0.
Quarterscores: 24-28, 48-55, 77-73, 103-92.
