THE bench was the story again in Game 2, but it's San Miguel's this time around.
Jeron Teng provided the spark on both ends in the second half, helping the Beermen tie the PBA 50th Season Philippine Cup semifinals series at 1-1 with a 93-84 win over Barangay Ginebra on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
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Teng stood at the forefront of a big performance by the Beermen's bench, scoring all of his 13 points in the second half while being tasked to defend RJ Abarrientos and Scottie Thompson - Ginebra's top two scorers in Game One.
June Mar Fajardo had another huge outing with 21 points and 23 rebounds as the Beermen avoided falling into a 0-2 hole ahead for Game 3 on Friday, also at the Big Dome.
“It’s a good thing we were able to tie the series because 0-2 is really hard to come back. Although in the past, nagagawa namin ‘yun, it’s really hard against a team like Ginebra,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
Teng scored 12 points during a 14-9 turnaround to give San Miguel an 84-77 lead. The Beermen’s lead ballooned to 91-79, the biggest of the game, and never looked back.
“What happened in the fourth quarter, it’s guts para kay Jeron,” said Austria.
Don Trollano and Jericho Cruz also gave San Miguel’s bench a big lift with 12 and 11 points respectively.
Stephen Holt had 18 points, and RJ Abarrientos added 18 points, but the latter was limited to five in the fourth quarter no thanks to the defensive effort of Cruz.
The scores:
San Miguel 93 – Fajardo 21, Teng 13, Trollano 12, Cruz 11, Perez 11, Lassiter 9, Tautuaa 6, Brondial 4, Ross 4, Cahilig 2, Rosales 0, Tiongson 0.
Barangay Ginebra 84 – Abarrientos 18, Holt 18, Torres 10, Rosario 9, Thompson 9, J. Aguilar 8, David 4, Cu 3, Gray 3, Adamos 2, Pinto 0, Estil 0.
Quarters: 12-19; 34-42; 65-63; 93-84.
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