SAN Miguel Beer drove the final nail on TNT's coffin while breathing more life on its own bid with a 119-99 demolition in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig Saturday.
A conference after a dogfight of a duel for the All-Filipino crown, the two teams this time engaged in a yawner of lopsided match with the Beermen showing no mercy on the injury-depleted TNT side to push their quarters aspiration.
Devon Scott and his local teammates assured themselves of at least a tie for the last Final Eight spot while showing the Tropang Giga the door on their 20-point victory.
The Beermen play the Meralco Bolts in the final play date of the elims on Friday while the Tropang Giga are done with their ill-fated Commissioner's Cup campaign, finishing with just four wins against eight defeats.
For the first time in the last eight conferences, the Smart PLDT franchise failed to make it past the elims play.
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From seventh place, the Beermen improved to joint fifth with the NorthPort Batang Pier, and they're now knocking at the best-of-three quarters door with a 6-5 slate.
"This win is very important as it brings us a step closer to our goal of a best-of-three. At the start of the conference, our goal was No. 1 or No. 2 for the twice-to-beat advantage, unfortunately we didn't have a chance at it, and we're now chasing our next goal," said assistant coach Jorge Gallent, still calling the shots for the Beermen with head coach Leo Austria observing health and safety protocols.
The Beermen made it three in a row -- back-it-back with June Mar Fajardo upon his return from his throat surgery.
Though still playing limited minutes, the six-time MVP winner collected double-double numbers with 12 points and 13 rebounds as his contribution in a well-spread SMB numbers.
Scott tallied double-double right in the opening half with 18 and 10 and finished with a total of 28 and 14 on top of four steals and three assists against five turnovers in 35 minutes of action.
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CJ Perez (17 points), Vic Manuel (16 markers), Simon Enciso (15), Marcio Lassiter (four three-pointers), Jericho Cruz (11) put in double-digit outputs for the Beermen who was on the gas pedal almost all night long.
"We put emphasis on finishing the play be it on defense and offense," said Enciso, the Best Player of the Game with an effort also laced by three triples and seven assists.
"Our defense picked up and our mentality was turning defense into offense. We did a good job defending TNT's plays," said Gallent, who also lauded their good rebounding job.
The Beermen were locked-in with their mentality from the beginning, thus, jumping the gun on the Tropa and sitting on a 64-40 cushion at halftime. (SB)
The Scores:
San Miguel 119 - Scott 28, Perez 17, Manuel 16, Enciso 15, Lassiter 12, Fajardo 12, Cruz 11, Brondial 4, Zamar 2, Ross 2, Canete 0, Faundo 0.
TNT 99 - Pogoy 23, K.Williams 18, Mobley 18, Tungcab 12, Soyud 11, Marcelo 6, Cruz 3, M.Williams 2, Oftana 2, Khobuntin 2, Heruela 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.
Quarters: 28-15, 64-40, 87-65, 119-99
