EASTERN asserted its mastery of San Miguel Beer, beating the reigning PBA Commissioner's Cup champion in overtime, 99-91, on Sunday at the Philsports Arena.
Glen Yang finished with 26 points and spearheaded a closing 9-0 run that enabled the guest team to beat the Beermen for the second time in four days.
The first of those back-to-back wins came at home in the EASL for the Hong Kong-based outfit, 72-61, last Wednesday on the road.
EASL: Eastern dominates SMB at home, ends Austria win streak
The San Miguel loss also spoiled the debut of new import Jabari Narcis, who led the team with 28 points and 10 rebounds.
Yang shot 4-of-5 from three-point range, the last of which put away the game for good for Eastern as it rebounded from a 120-113 loss to Northport two days ago.
"It's not easy to beat any team twice in a row especially San Miguel which is a very good team," a humble Eastern coach Mensur Bajramovic said.
"My players are tired for sure, and it's obvious in the last game when we lost. But we've analyzed these games and they showed good reaction," added the Bosnian coach, adding the Eastern welcomes the Christmas break in the coming days.
Import Chris McLaughlin registered a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds, Hayden Blankley had 15, Kobey Lam 13, and Siu Wing Chan with 10 for the guest team, which improved to a 6-2 record for third place.
Trailing by as many as 38-26, the Beermen caught up with Eastern and sent the match into overtime on a three pointer by CJ Perez, 87-all.
The reigning champion even had the chance to win the game in regulation, but Chris Ross' attempt from three-point range missed the basket completely at the buzzer.
Eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo scored the first basket in the extra period to put San Miguel on top for the last time, 89-87, before Eastern scored nine unanswered points.
Fajardo contributed solid numbers of 23 points, 18 rebounds, and five assists for the Beermen, who suffered their first loss in three PBA games under returning coach Leo Austria.
San Miguel currently sports an even 3-3 record.
The scores:
Eastern (99) - Yang 26, McLaughlin 18, Blankley 15, Lam 13, Chan 10, Pok 6, Cao 5, Guinchard 3, Zhu 2, Cheung 1, Xu 0.
San Miguel (91) - Narcis 28, Fajardo 23, Perez 18, Lassiter 13, Rosales 3, Trollano 2, Tautuaa 2, Cruz 2, Ross 0, Tiongson 0, Brondial 0, Cahilig 0.
Quarterscores: 22-20; 51-41; 69-64; 87-87 (reg): 99-91.
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