SAN Miguel leaned on a strong start and finished even stronger for a 104-93 blowout of Barangay Ginebra in the main game of the PBA Philippine Cup doubleheader on Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen jumped to a 22-6 lead in the opening quarter that ballooned to 21 points just before halftime, setting the stage for the one-sided win that put San Miguel Beer back on the winning track.
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The Kings did come back and trim the gap to as low as 11, but CJ Perez answered for San Miguel with several clutch outside shots to bring the lead back to 21 points.
The Beermen raised their record to 3-1 as they bounced back from that overtime loss to the Magnolia Hotshots before the Holy Week break.
The Kings fell to an even 1-1 record after winning their debut game two days ago against Terrafirma.
Coming off a loss to Magnolia, San Miguel coach Leo Austria said it was imperative for the Beermen to bounce back especially against a top contender like Ginebra.
“Those teams are contenders for the Top 4, that’s why the players are eager to beat Ginebra. The last time we watched them (Kings), kahit wala silang tuneup, they were very, very organized,” said Austria.
Perez led all San Miguel scorers with 23 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while going 2-of-4 from the four-point line.
The last of those long range bomb stabilized the Beermen after the Kings came to within 71-60 late in the third period.
Perez scored 11 in the fourth quarter.
Don Trollano was 3-of-6 from three-point range to finish with 19 points, and June Mar Fajardo had a double-double of 18 and 12 rebounds, while instigating that first-quarter breakaway by the Beermen.
Jericho Cruz (11), Juami Tiongson (10), and Marcio Lassiter (10) all finished in double figures for San Miguel, whose bench outscored Ginebra, 43-27.
The Kings went to Troy Rosario for the needed points, and he paced the team with 24 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Stephen Holt tried to rally the Kings during that third quarter uprising where he had 12 of his 16 points.
Jamie Malonzo finally suited up in his first game for the Kings this conference and finished with 16 points, but was 5-of-13 from the floor after missing the team’s previous game against Terrafirma owing to a hurting knee.
The scores
San Miguel (104) - Perez 23, Trollano 19, Fajardo 18, Cruz 11, Tiongson 10, Lassiter 10, Rosales 8, Calma 4, Teng 1, Brondial 0, Cahilig 0, Tautuaa 0, Ross 0.
Ginebra (93) - Rosario 24, Holt 16, Malonzo 16, Thompson 14, J.Aguilar 12, Abarrientos 6, Pinto 3, Ahanmisi 2, R.Aguilar 0, Adamos 0, Cu 0.
Quarterscores: 25-11; 48-30; 83-65; 104-93.
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