DEFENDING champion San Miguel warmed up for the PBA Commissioner's Cup playoffs by hacking out a 113-108 win over Meralco on Friday at the Philsports Arena.
San Miguel vs Meralco recap
The Beermen pulled away early as they scored 42 points in the second quarter behind the hot hands of Jericho Cruz, Marcio Lassiter, and import Devon Scott.
It was a 70-50 San Miguel lead at the break on the way to coasting to its fourth straight win and finish the eliminations with a 7-5 record.
The Beermen ended up at no. 5 and will face fourth seed Converge FiberXers in a best-of-three series come the quarterfinals.
The final playdate of the eliminations also saw the Beermen unveiled the comebacking Terrence Romeo, who was finally reactivated for the first time this season.
The three-time league scoring champion finished with 12 points in his very first outing since the quarterfinals of the last Governors Cup also against Meralco.
Scott led all San Miguel scorers with 32 points and 13 rebounds, Lassiter had 13 on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc, while Cruz and CJ Perez had 10 each.
"We've learned our lesson. I'm sure we will watch a lot of tapes and watch want went wrong with that loss," said deputy coach Jorge Gallent of the Beermen's 106-102 loss to the FiberXers in the eliminations.
"We'll find ways to get better at it."
Meralco fell by as many as 77-52 early in the third, but rallied hard in the fourth behind its shock troopers to threaten at 111-108 with 13 seconds left on a Bong Quinto layup.
But two free throws by Scott secured the win for San Miguel and dealt the Bolts their third straight loss to exit with a 4-8 record.
KJ McDaniels had a team-high 27 points to lead the Bolts, who also got a 21 points from Aaron Black and 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds from Raymar Jose.
Meralco missed key players Chris Newsome, Raymond Almazan, and Chris Banchero due to injuries.
The scores:
San Miguel (113) -- Scott 32, Lassiter 13, Romeo 12, Cruz 10, Perez 10, Fajardo 9, Enciso 8, Manuel 7, Tautuaa 6, Brondial 4, Zamar 2, Ross 0, Herndon 0.
Meralco (108) -- McDaniel 27, Black 21, Jose 16, Quinto 15, Caram 9, Maliksi 7, Pasaol 4, Belo 4, Hugnatan 3, Hodge 2, Pascual 0, Baclao 0, Johnson 0.
Quarterscores: 28-21; 70-50; 94-73; 113-108.
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