SAN Miguel maintained its clean slate and stayed in first place by beating a fighting Meralco side, 94-86, on Thursday night in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Cameron Clark made timely baskets in the endgame to fend off repeated Meralco comebacks and help the Beermen go 5-0 win-loss since Jorge Gallent took over as head coach from Leo Austria, who was bumped up to a consultant role.
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“The players want to play hard and they are playing together offensively and defensively. All of these, the 5-0, the credit goes to the players,” said Gallent.
Clark finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds, including six straight points at the tailend of the second quarter for a 44-33 halftime lead. He finished what he started medium-range jumpers and a long two with 30.8 seconds left to settle the final score.
The Bolts fell to 3-2 after losing for the second time in their last three games.
CJ Perez also had a notable performance with 19 points including a three-point play that allowed San Miguel to grab a 90-81 lead with 2:30 left. Jericho Cruz scored 13 points including seven in the third quarter.
San Miguel was also able to put the clamps on KJ McDaniels, who was held to 18 points on 7-of-20 shooting from the field.
The scores:
San Miguel 94 – Clark 28, Perez 19, Cruz 13, Fajardo 11, Enciso 8, Lassiter 7, Bulanadi 6, Ross 2, Tautuaa 0, Brondial 0.
Meralco 86 – Newsome 18, McDaniels 18, Maliksi 16, Banchero 7, Black 5, Pasaol 5, Hodge 4, Caram 3, Quinto 3, Almazan 3, Jose 2, Pascual 2.
Quarters: 18-14; 44-33; 69-63; 94-86.
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