SAN Miguel and Rain or Shine churned out what has been so far the best game of the PBA Governors’ Cup, with the Beermen taking the thrilling 113-112 win behind June Mar Fajardo’s endgame winner at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Thursday night.
Fajardo’s mid-range jumper that hit the rim before bouncing in at the buzzer bailed out the team from what could have been an agonizing loss after seeing its three-point lead dissipated in the last three seconds on four free throws by rookie Felix Lemetti, who was fouled by Chris Ross as he was about to attempt from beyond the four-point line.
But the 6-foot-10 Fajardo didn't disappoint the Beermen, who hurriedly inbounded the ball to the streaking CJ Perez with no timeouts left, before he passed it to the waiting hands of Fajardo at the perimeter for the game winner.
The win snapped San Miguel’s two-game skid, while dealing Rain or Shine its first loss of the season and spoiling Lemetti’s career-game.
The first match had TNT rolling past lowly Terrafirma, 107-89, for its fourth win in five games and share of the top spot in Group A with Meralco. The Dyip suffered their fifth straight loss.
The takeaways in Thursday night’s games at NAS:
1. FELIX LEMETTI A STAR IN THE MAKING – the Rain or Shine rookie guard continues to make believers out of doubters by turning in a career night in only his fifth game in the league and almost single-handedly took down the star-studded Beermen behind his clutch shooting in the endgame. The eighth pick in the last draft registered 28 points on 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range, 1-of-1 from the four-point arc, and 7-of-8 from the foul line, including the last four with three seconds left that almost won it for the Elasto Painters. The 6-foot-1 Fil-Swede took over in the fourth quarter by scoring 14 points and showing he can thrive in a playoff-type atmosphere. The former NCAA Division 1 player out of Omaha has been delivering the goods so far for coach Yeng Guiao that not a few have beel labelling him this early as the steal of the Season 49 draft.
2. JORDAN ADAMS SCORES QUIET 41 POINTS FOR SMB – lost in Fajardo’s game-winner was import Adams coming through with 41 points on 15-of-25 shooting overall and 3-of-5 from three-point distance. He also had six rebounds and five assists and teamed up with Fajardo in the final 12 minutes where they combined to score all but four of the Beermen’s 27 fourth-quarter points. His output is his second highest in the league since exploding for 50 in a 128-108 victory over Blackwater.
3. CJ PEREZ MAKES UP FOR SHOOTING STRUGGLES – the San Miguel wingman struggled with his shooting against the Elasto Painters, making for just 4-of-15 from the floor for 10 points. But he made up for it by dishing off a team-high eight assists, and set up Fajardo for that memorable game-winning basket.
4. CAN’T WAIT FOR SMB-ROS, CONVERGE-TNT REMATCH – belonging to the same group meant San Miguel and Rain or Shine will meet anew in the second round - a game that would definitely be among the much awaited given the outcome of their first match. The same goes for the Tropang Giga and the FiberXers, whose first meeting last August 27 ended with Converge winning a thriller, 96-95, as import Scotty Hopson drained the first ever game-winning four-point shot in league history. The SMB-RoS rematch is set on Sept. 19 also NAS, while the Converge-TNT return bout is slated this Sunday.
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