Defending champion San Miguel Beer finally entered the win column in the PBA Philippine Cup after leaning on CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter to beat Rain or Shine, 111-93, on Sunday at Ynares Center in Rodriguez, Rizal.
Perez scored 23 points on top of six rebounds, four assists and two steals while Lassiter bucked what looked like a severe hit on his nose to make all of his 18 in the second half as the Beermen ended an unusual 0-2 start in their title defense.
June Mar Fajardo added 17 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two steals while Juami Tiongson chipped in 11 for San Miguel.
San Miguel won after dropping its first two matches at the hands of NLEX and Phoenix while also picking up some momentum going to Dubai when it plays sibling rival Barangay Ginebra next Sunday.
Adrian Nocum scored 17, Jhonard Clarito posted 16 points and nine rebounds and skipper Gian Mamuyac got 16 but Rain or Shine dropped to 1-1 which spoiled the debut of veteran guard Stanley Pringle.
Pringle made 11 points and four assists for the Elasto Painters, whose next opponent are the Blackwater Bossing on Friday at Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
It was close encounter until the latter stretch of the second with Tiongson hitting some shots and Perez knocking down a four-point shot before the horn that made it 46-34 for the Beermen at the break.
Lassiter shook off the inadvertent hit he sustained from a driving Santi Santillan with less than seven minutes to play in the second and connected on three triples in the third that enabled San Miguel to sustain its double-digit advantage for most of the way.