SAN Miguel Beer outworked and outhustled San Mig Super Coffee for 48 minutes to pull off a 97-88 win and gain the inside track on the No. 2 seeding going to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Marcio Lassiter bounced back from a sub-par game against Alaska by triggering a scoring rampage from the perimeter as the Beermen, who are coming off a two-week break, displayed razor-sharp form in posting their sixth win in eight starts.
The 6-1 Lassiter finished with 19 points including three triples to play a strong supporting role to import Kevin Jones, who led the Beermen with 26 points, 14 rebounds and four assists.
“I didn’t know how we can come out after two weeks (off). But us in the coaching staff, we did our best to prepare after that break,” said San Miguel team consultant Todd Purves, whose team is coming off a conference-low 78 scoring performance in a loss to Alaska in Binan, Laguna.
The win put the Beermen firmly entrenched in second spot behind Talk 'N Text, who has completed a sweep of the eliminations to clinch the top seeding.
The Mixers dropped to 4-3, in a tie with the Aces for third to fourth spots.
“If we can take care of the next game, then those types of things can work out. We’re positioning ourselves, because we’re not done yet with elimination round.”
San Mig missed the energy and hustle of Marc Pingris, who left the game early in the second period after being accidentally hit in the ribs by Doug Kramer during a rebound play.
The 6-5 Pingris finished the game with six points and two rebounds.
Import James Mays led the Mixers with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Peter June Simon also had 15, while rookie forward Ian Sangalang chipped in 13.
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