BAY Area put together one of its best shooting performances in its PBA campaign, routing San Miguel, 114-95, on Friday at the Philsports Arena to move on the cusp of a place in the 2022-2023 Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
The Dragons waxed hot from afar, making 17 of 30 (56 percent) attempts from three-point distance on their way to a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five semifinal series.

Game Three is on Sunday at the Philsports Arena with the Dragons looking to match the feats of the 1977 Emtex and 1980 Nicholas Stoodley squad as the third foreign guest team to advance to a PBA regular conference finals.
Andrew Nicholson led the shooting spree of Bay Area as he collected 34 points and 16 rebounds to go along with his 6-of-9 shooting from threes, leaving the de facto defending champions Beermen on the ropes.
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The breakaway began late in the second quarter when the Dragons hit five threes in the final three minutes for a 52-42 halftime lead.
Game One hero Kobey Lam delivered again with 25 points on 4-of-6 shooting from threes, while Glen Yang and Zhu So Wei produced 13 points apiece.
“In the second quarter, we got on top through our defense and our defense opened up our running game,” said Bay Area coach Brian Goorjian.
“They have a ton of talent," he said of the Beermen. "They have great guards and great bigs. It’s easy to say play good defense but it’s hard. But there is a comfort that the schemes we are using are solid.”
San Miguel head coach Leo Austria returned on the sidelines for his ballclub but is now facing the task of having to win the next three games in order to advance to the finals and keep their grand slam bid alive.
June Mar Fajardo poured 35 points and 10 rebounds but the Beermen trailed by as many as 21 points as they struggled to contain their opponent’s shooting.
The scores:
Bay Area 114 – Nicholson 34, Lam 25, Yang 13, Zhu 13, Blankley 11, Liu 10, Ju 4, Zheng 2, Reid 2, Ewing 0, Si 0, Liang 0, Song 0.
San Miguel 95 – Fajardo 35, Lassiter 15, Scott 14, Perez 13, Manuel 9, Romeo 5, Zamar 2, Brondial 2, Enciso 0, Canete 0, Ross 0, Cruz 0.
Quarters: 26-25; 52-42; 80-66; 114-95.
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