San Miguel received plenty of support this time around as it evened things out with Ginebra in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup semifinals following a 93-84 victory on Wednesday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Don Trollano and Jericho Cruz helped propel their third-quarter surge, before Jeron Teng took charge in the final period. The trio provided the badly needed help for the Beermen after receiving hardly any support in Game 1.
Teng spearheaded the bench mob with 13 points, 12 of which he produced in the fourth quarter alone, alongside five rebounds and three assists.
(C) PBA Images
Trollano finished with 12 points and five rebounds as well, while Cruz produced 11 points. Their contributions took some load off heavy hitters June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez, who combined for 45 the last time out.
Still, the star tandem delivered once more, with Fajardo finishing with 21 points and 23 rebounds to register his third straight 20-20 performance. Perez, for his part, chipped in 11 markers together with five rebounds.
“It’s a good thing we’re able to tie the series at 1-1 because being down 0-2, it will be really hard to come back from,” head coach Leo Austria said.
But the night truly belonged to Teng, who shone bright in the deciding chapter as he showed how valuable he could be after being benched in Game 1.
The former La Salle star scored eight points in the crucial 13-5 spurt, which turned a slim one-point lead into a nine-point advantage, 80-71, with 7:28 remaining. The defending conference champions would maintain control for the rest of the way.
San Miguel would lead by as many as 12 points, 91-79, behind a three-point play conversion by Fajardo approaching the game’s final three minutes.
“What happened in the fourth quarter was pure guts mula kay Jeron because in the first game, I was not able to use him because of some things in my mind,” said Austria. “I have to appreciate him because he’s really a professional.”
(C) PBA Images
Stephen Holt and RJ Abarrientos led the Kings with 18 points apiece, with Norbert Torres adding 10 as the three were their only sources of offense.
Ralph Cu, for instance, got checked this time around and only had three points on three shots after making 13 back in the series opener behind four treys.
Game 3 of the best-of-7 series is on Friday, 7:30 PM, still at the Big Dome.
The Scores:
San Miguel 93 – Fajardo 21, Teng 13, Trollano 12, Cruz 11, Perez 11, Lassiter 9, Tautuaa 6, Ross 4, Brondial 4, Cahilig 2, Tiongson 0, Rosales 0.
Ginebra 84 – Holt 18, Abarrientos 18, Torres 10, Rosario 9, Thompson 9, J.Aguilar 8, David 4, Cu 3, Gray 3, Adamos 2, Estil 0, Pinto 0.
Quarterscores: 12-19, 34-42, 65-63, 93-84.
#WATCH: GUILTY NA GUILTY AKO NUNG FIRST GAME 🏀
San Miguel head coach Leo Austria admits feeling guilty for not fielding Jeron Teng in Game 1 of the #PBA50 semifinals #ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/pB5X4IkZ1U
📹 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/WsBb6yC6ns
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) January 7, 2026
