CALASIAO, Pangasinan - Titleholder San Miguel Beer sustained its brilliant rise from a woeful 0-3 start, thwarting NLEX, 125-114, in a Petron Blaze road showdown here to all but seal a spot in the PBA Commissioner's Cup playoffs.
June Mar Fajardo, Renaldo Balkman and Marcio Lassiter all churned out huge games as the Beermen jacked up their record to 5-4 going to their last two games in the single-round-robin elims.
Fajardo powered his way to 30 points and 13 rebounds, Balkman produced 25 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and four steals in another sterling all-around performance while Lassiter drained 6-of-9 three-pointers to highlight a 26-point game.
Chris Ross and Alex Cabagnot played their part as the SMB solid starting cast punished the NLEX in a game that the Beermen dominated from the second quarter onwards.
The Road Warriors simply just couldn't endure the 110-point production of the SMB super five and dropped to 2-8.
Sponsored content:
Fajardo served his mother ball club well in the Calasiao game. In the next days, the 6-foot-10 Cebuano behemoth will concentrate with Gilas Pilipinas in their training and actual games in the third window of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
Fajardo and the rest of the Gilas team depart Monday for Taiwan where they play Chinese Taipei on June 29. On July 2, they tangle with Team Australia over at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Beermen brace up for their last two games in the Commissioner's Cup elims versus the Blackwater Elite on July 4 at the MOA Arena then against the Magnolia Hotshots on July 7 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Their target is a spot in the pair of best-of-three quarterfinals - No. 3 versus No. 6 and No. 4 opposite No. 5.
The Beermen established control in the second period then thwarted a series of NLEX fightbacks in their game at the Calasiao Sports Center.
Sponsored content:
Cabagnot contributed 17 points while Ross added 12 for the explosive game of the SMB starters that beat their NLEX counterparts by 32 points.
Kelly Nabong saw actions for 13 minutes in his SMB debut where he made two points, one assist and one rebound against four fouls.
Arnett Moultrie poured in 43 points while Asi Taulava curiously connected with five triples and a total of 18 markers for the losing squad.(SB)
The scores:
San Miguel 125 - Fajardo 30, Lassiter 26, Balkman 25, Cabagnot 17, Ross 12, Heruela 4, Santos 4, Rosser 3, Mamaril 2, Nabong 2, Pessumal 0.
NLEX 114 - Moultrie 43, Taulava 18, Tiongson 8, Baguio 7, Ighalo 6, Quinahan 6, Tallo 6, Uyloan 5, Rios 5, Soyud 5, Buenafe 3, Gotladera 2, Marcelo 0.
Quarters: 31-34, 65-55, 97-85, 125-114.
