June 21, 2019

San Miguel rides high on Cabagnot heroics to whip Alaska

SAN Miguel overcame a poor start to beat Alaska with plenty to spare, 119-107, and got back on the winning track in the PBA Commissioner's Cup Friday night at the Astrodome.

Alex Cabagnot held the fort for the Beermen early on when they found themselves trailing the Aces, 21-9.

Import Charles Rhodes and Marcio Lassiter then took over starting the second period when the team finally began to find its rhythm, outscoring the Aces, 36-14, to turn the tide around and give San Miguel a huge 24-point lead at the half.

San Miguel cruised from there on its way to notching only its second win in five outings after coming off a 110-107 heartbreaker of a loss in overtime against Barangay Ginebra.

"It was a scary game because we didn't have a good start. Nang-iwan agad (Alaska)," said coach Leo Austria. "But I'm happy na nagkaroon sila (Beermen) ng sense of urgency and we were able to recover."

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Cabagnot equaled his season-high with 31 points on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range. He hit 16 points in the first quarter alone that kept the Beermen afloat against the fast-starting Aces.

"I have to commend his (Cabagnot) play dahil makikita mo singlehandedly he (lifted us) in the first half when we were down," said Austria of the veteran guard.

Rhodes, the Best Import of this tournament two years ago, finished with 23 points to go with 11 rebounds, and three block shots, while Lassiter also had 23 including 12 in the final quarter.

The Beermen enjoyed as much as a 69-41 lead - the biggest - early in the third quarter.

Arwind Santos contributed 16 points and June Mar Fajardo failed to complete a double-double after going for 14 points and nine rebounds.

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Alaska brought back original choice Chris Daniels in lieu of Nino Johnson, but the change hardly had effect as the Aces fell to a 4-3 record after suffering their second straight loss.

Chris Banchero paced Alaska with 26 points and Daniels had 23 and 22 rebounds.
Curiously, the Aces clobbered the Beermen off the boards, 53-42.

The scores

San Miguel (119) - Cabagnot 31, Rhodes 23, Lassiter 23, Santos 15, Fajardo 14, Standhardinger 6, Nabong 3, Rosser 2, Zamar 2, Pessumal 0, Ross 0, Tubid 0.

Alaska (107) - Banchero 26, Daniels 23, Enciso 18, Teng 11, Ayaay 8, Pascual 6, Manuel 6, Casio 5, Thoss 4, Exciminiano 0, Racal 0, Cruz 0.

Quarterscores: 29-27; 65-41; 85-67; 119-107.