SAN Miguel left Phoenix on the ropes after coasting to a 110-80 victory on Friday and a berth in the quarterfinals of the PBA Philippine Cup.
The Beermen displayed a superb firepower even in the absence of leading scorer Terrence Romeo, leading the Fuel Masters by as much as 37 points midway through the fourth quarter at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym.
Romeo went out late in the opening quarter after hurting his right foot and never came back.
But the Beermen still proved too much for the Fuel Masters as they notched their sixth win in nine outings and remained in the fight for a twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs.
Taking over the scoring from Romeo, CJ Perez topscored for the Beermen with 24 points on 50 percent shooting. Mo Tautuaa added 19 points, and six-time MVP June Mar Fajardo with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Coach Leo Austria admitted being surprised with the way San Miguel put the game away early on after coming off a stunning 89-87 upset at the hands of Rain or Shine last week.
Bounce-back game
"Sabi ko sa kanila, we have to bounce back, and makikita ninyo na nag-bounce back kami tonight," he said. "But I was not expecting na magiging ganito ang outcome. I was really surprised. Of course, give credit to the players especially this guy (CJ), sabi ko talagang all-out siya, and the rest of the crew, talagang naglaro sila because they know the importance of this game."
The loss was a bitter one for Phoenix which ended its elimination round campaign with a 4-7 card and in danger of missing the playoffs.
Making it a double whammy for the Fuel Masters was the injury suffered by big man Vic Manuel, who appeared to have hurt his groin in the third period. He finished with eight points and three rebounds,
San Miguel held an eight-point lead at the half, but broke the game wide open for good in the third quarter when it outscored Phoenix, 30-12, to make it 85-59 entering the fourth.
A three-pointer by Von Pessumal with 5:18 left gave the Beermen the first of their two 37-point leads at 104-67.
Jason Perkins led the Fuel Masters with 18 points, followed by Chris Banchero with 13 and rookie Larry Muyang had 12 in his best game so far this season, which saw the big man out of Letran hitting 3-of-4 from the field and grabbing five rebounds.
Going for naught in the blowlout loss was Matthew Wright's all-around game of 10 points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists.
The scores:
San Miguel (110) - Perez 24, Tautuaa 19, Fajardo 18, Santos 16, Ross 9, Lassiter 8, Zamar 5, Pessumal 5, Romeo 3, Sena 3, Gotladera 0, Comboy 0, Gamalinda 0.
Phoenix (80) - Perkins 18, Banchero 13, Muyang 12, Garcia 11, Wright 10, Manuel 8, Chua 6, Jazul 2, Calisaan 0, Melecio 0, Rios 0, Pascual 0.
Quarterscores: 24-21; 55-47; 85-59; 110-80.
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