SAN Miguel evened its PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup semifinal series with Barangay Ginebra at 1-1 after scoring a 100-83 victory even with an June Mar Fajardo playing limited minutes on Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Marcio Lassiter picked up the slack offensively with a game-high 16 points as the Beermen pulled away to leads of as high as 23 points to square the best-of-seven semifinal going to Game 3 is on Sunday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Playing through a calf injury that he sustained in a Game 1 loss just two days ago, Fajardo didn’t start for the Beermen, played for just 17 minutes and 39 seconds, scoring two points although he still produced seven rebounds and two assists.
Lassiter wasn’t alone in providing contributions in light of Fajardo’s injury. Don Trollano added 14 points, six rebounds, and two steals, and Kris Rosales, who didn’t play at all in Game 1, chipped in 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
Mo Tautuaa also showed his presence inside in lieu of Fajardo with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Beermen.
'Everybody stepped up'
“Thank you to my players. They know the situation since yesterday when we learned that June Mar will be on managed minutes or depends on my discretion, everybody was thinking that they have to step up,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
Except for a 3-2 deficit at the start of the ballgame, the Beermen were in total control of the match-up after taking a 26-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. Lassiter set the tone by scoring 14 in the first half.
Stephen Holt topscored for Ginebra with 17 points, 11 in the second quarter, but the lead still reached as high as 90-67, prompting the Gin Kings to bring out their second stringers in the fourth quarter.
Game 1 heroes Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson combined for only 14 points after contributing 34 in the series opener.
The scores:
San Miguel 100 – Lassiter 16, Trollano 14, Rosales 13, Perez 11, Cruz 11, Tautuaa 10, Cahilig 9, Tiongson 8, Brondial 4, Calma 2, Fajardo 2, Teng 0.
Barangay Ginebra 83 – Holt 17, Pinto 10, Gray 10, Ahanmisi 9, Thompson 9, Abarrientos 7, Rosario 6, J. Aguilar 5, David 5, Malonzo 5, Cu 0, Tenorio 0, Adamos 0, R. Aguilar 0.
Quarters: 26-15; 54-41; 76-61; 100-83.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
