SAN Miguel fended off a late Barangay Ginebra rally to pull off a 95-92 win on Friday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum to stay unbeaten in the PBA 48th Season Philippine Cup.
Don Trollano and Jericho Cruz buried big baskets late to help the Beermen stave off a Gin Kings comeback and remain on top of the standings with a 4-0 win-loss record.
The Gin Kings fell to 3-2.
READ Fajardo mask arrived just in time for SMB vs Ginebra game
The Beermen won in wire-to-wire fashion and led by as many as 18 points only to see the gap dwindle to as low as two points late.
Trollano finished with 15 points and made a jumper and a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2:41 left to turn an 88-84 gap into a 93-86 advantage.
After a 5-0 Ginebra run that included a triple by Maverick Ahanmisi, Cruz buried a lefty lay-up with 44.8 seconds left for a 95-91 San Miguel lead that held to the end.
His team being one of the leaders in scoring, San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent was glad that their defense held to protect a lead that stood at 84-66 at one point.
“We just had to play good defense in the end. We have to stop them in the last two, three minutes because we were making hurried shots when we were up by 18,” said Gallent.
CJ Perez added 18 points and 10 assists, while June Mar Fajardo added 14 points and 10 rebounds despite wearing a mask to protect a fracture in his nose.
Japeth Aguilar had 17 points including a slam in the second quarter off a baseline drive against Fajardo. Ahanmisi had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Ginebra.
The scores:
San Miguel 95 – Perez 18, Trollano 15, Fajardo 14, Tautuaa 12, Romeo 11, Cruz 8, Brondial 8, Lassiter 6, Ross 3, Enciso 0, Manuel 0.
Barangay Ginebra 92 – J. Aguilar 17, Ahanmisi 16, Pringle 15, Malonzo 14, Standhardinger 14, Tenorio 8, Onwubere 8, Pinto 0, Cu 0, Pessumal 0, Gumaru 0, David 0.
Quarters: 33-18; 56-50; 82-66; 95-92.
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