SAN Miguel began a campaign without star center June Mar Fajardo in the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup with a convincing 94-78 win over Magnolia on Sunday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen were quick to prove that they can be competitive even without Fajardo, who earlier in the night received his sixth straight PBA MVP while riding a mobility scooter. He is out of the season with a broken tibia.
Fittingly, it was Fajardo’s back-up in Mo Tautuaa who was one of the stars in the victory as he finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks for the Beermen.
Terrence Romeo added 19 points and seven assists while Arwind Santos had 18 points, 15 rebounds, and five steals for San Miguel, which went on a 13-3 run late in the second quarter to take a 45-33 halftime lead.
“Masaya ako dahil na-surprise ako dito sa nilaro ng mga bata both on offense and defense. They played really well,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria, who nonetheless warned that the team needs a lot more work with Fajardo likely out for the season.
“We don’t have to complacent because we have a lot of things to fix. As much as possible, in the first few games, gusto naming manalo dahil alam naman natin itong tournament na ‘to, you can’t afford to lose the first few games because it’s hard to catch up.”
Tautuaa, Romeo, and Santos clustered eight points to begin that San Miguel run in the second period to widen the gap to 40-30. Marcio Lassiter added 17 points including the final five SMB points in the second quarter.
The lead reached as high as 23 in the third quarter, 60-37.
Magnolia was able to slice the gap to seven points, 63-56. But Romeo hit seven straight points after losing the ball to Jio Jalalon in one possession to bring the Beermen's lead back to double digits.
The Hotshots got no closer after that.
Paul Lee had 19 points while Jackson Corpuz had 16 points and 13 rebounds in his Magnolia debut. Ian Sangalang added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Hotshots.
The scores:
San Miguel 94 – Tautuaa 20, Romeo 19, Santos 18, Lassiter 17, Cabagnot 10, Ross 4, Zamar 3, Escoto 3, Pessumal 0, Comboy 0, Gamalinda 0.
Magnolia 78 – Lee 19, Corpuz 16, Sangalang 16, Jalalon 8, Barroca 8, Simon 4, Melton 3, Dela Rosa 3, Banchero 1, Pascual 0.
Quarters: 18-18; 45-33; 69-56; 94-78.
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