Hangover gone.
In a match where another misstep would lead to a 0-3 predicament, titlist San Miguel Beer played with tremendous resolve to score a 111-93 breakthrough over Rain or Shine in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup last night at Ynares Center-Montalban.
CJay Perez and Marcio Lassiter assumed the spearhead roles with June Mar Fajardo shackled early on, rifling in 23 and 18 points, respectively, to spark SMB to the pull-around from stunning losses to NLEX (84-85) and Phoenix (103-109).
Perez hit a booming buzzer-beater at the four-point arc in the second canto to lift the Beermen to a 46-34 tear after which Lassiter dropped 12 in the third to widen the gap, 74-65.
Fajardo was held scoreless in the first 24 minutes but eventually found his rhythm and finished with 17, making 14 in the fourth to keep SMB well in control.
‘In our first two games, it seemed like we were just there to play instead of being there to win. But now we have a sense of urgency, you can see the players went all out and that’s the game we want to project,’ SMB coach Leo Austria said.
Austria attributed the listless performance to ‘lack of focus and physical conditioning’ especially in the second half of their first games. This, he said, was an offshoot of the late start of their pre-season training camp after winning the All-Filipino last July, in addition to rivals battling with upgraded personnel.
Later, Meralco continued its resurgence with a 78-76 victory over erstwhile unbeaten Magnolia.
The Bolts, who banked on the late heroics of CJ Cansino (23 with four blocks) after blowing an 18-point spread, made it three in a row off a 0-2 start and sent the Hotshots to 2-1.