ILOILO CITY - San Miguel Beer banked on two reserves for the initial spark then went to its mainstays to finish the job in a come-from-behind 88-76 win over TNT KaTropa in the first Petron Blaze Saturday Special in the PBA Philippine Cup at the University of San Agustin Gym here.
Matt Ganuelas-Rosser and Brian Heruela made impact on the brief minutes that they played, providing the wake-up call the Beermen needed to remain unbeaten in the all-Filipino tourney.
As San Miguel had wiped out an early 12-point deficit, Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos and Marcio Lassiter came back to deliver the coup de grace as the Beermen nailed a third straight win while dealing the Texters a second loss in three starts.
The Beermen remained the only team with a clean slate in the tourney where they're in chase of a fourth straight crown.
Though neutralized in the first three quarters, June Mar Fajardo still ended up the SMB leading scorer with 20 points on 8-of-11 field goals and 4-of-9 free throws.
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Santos (15 points and 11 rebounds) and Cabagnot (11 markers and 12 boards) both churned out double-double games while Lassiter contributed 15 points, eight boards, three steals and two assists.
Rosser and Heruela made their presence felt, helping fuel their SMB's run from 54-61 down late in the third.
Rosser turned in eight points, five rebounds and three assists against his former team while Heruela added five markers, three boards and two dish-offs.
Rosser set up Fajardo for a basket from the post to cap a huge 11-to-nothing run that pushed San Miguel ahead at 65-61.
From there, the two teams fought through four deadlocks before the Beermen eventually seized control.
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Santos and Cabagnot highlighted their double-double games with back-to-back treys that broke the back of the Texters at 84-76. (SB)
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 88 - Fajardo 20, Lassiter 15, Santos 15, Cabagnot 11, Ganuelas-Rosser 8, Pessumal 7, Ross 5, Heruela 5, De Ocampo 2, Semerad 0, Mamaril 0, Lanete 0.
TALK N' TEXT 76 - Rosario 15, Tautuaa 12, Pogoy 11, Castro 9, Garcia 9, Williams 9, Semerad 6, Reyes 5, Golla 0, Carey 0, Torres 0, Onwubere 0.
Quarters: 14-24, 35-36, 58-61, 88-76.
