ANTIPOLO -- San Miguel Beer rallied from 13 points down in the second quarter then beat Phoenix Petroleum in the crunch, pulling off a 109-107 decision to move up to joint third with three play dates left in the PBA Governors Cup elimination round.
Terrence Watson, June Mar Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot delivered double-double numbers and themselves stepped up at winning time, lifting the Beermen past the Fuel Masters before a good Wednesday crowd at the Ynares Sports Center here.
Watson came up with 26 points and 11 rebounds, Fajardo got away with 24 markers and 17 boards while Cabagnot piled up 24 points and 13 rebounds as the Beermen notched a fourth straight win and caught up with the NLEX Road Warriors and the TNT KaTropa Texters at third at 7-3.
They squeezed out the crucial win setting them up for a big game against the Meralco Bolts at the close of the elims stage Sunday.
"Every time you're on top and you're the team to beat, it's hard to win a game. That's the case in our last two games against teams with nothing to lose and everything to gain," said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
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"Credit to coach Ariel Vanguardia and his team, they prepared hard and fought hard although
they're out of the playoff race. They showed their pride," Austria added.
The Beermen needed to work their way from 13 points down in the first half before withstanding the Fuel Masters to enhance their Top Four aspiration.
They foiled Phoenix's upset bid and sent the Fuel Masters to a 2-11 finish in the season-ending tourney.
The Beermen shattered a 104-all count on decisive back-to-back baskets by Watson and preserved the win on three-of-four charities by Cabagnot in the closing seconds of the well-fought ball game.
Brandon Brown was a tremendous force with 30 points, 17 rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks as the Fuel Masters waged a whale of a fight.
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But as the Fuel Masters went short in their bid, Brown ended up winless in his first PBA stint.
Jeff Chan, JC Intal and Joseph Eriobu contributed 18, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Arwind Santos and Marcio Lassiter were the other Beermen who put in double-digit outputs with 15 and 13, respectively.
From a 26-39 count, Cabagnot, Fajardo and Watson teamed up in an explosive run that carried San Miguel ahead, 56-52, at the turn.
As they picked up their games, Cabagnot, Fajardo and Watson outscored the entire Phoenix team, 28-24, in the second quarter.
The Fuel Masters got off to a strong start and set the pace until the Beermen surged ahead towards the end of the first half.
"Nagka-kumpiyansa talaga ang team sa third quarter na," said Austria.
