ANTIPOLO - San Miguel overcame a 20-point deficit to beat NLEX, 135-133, on Wednesday in their final game of the eliminations in the PBA 50th Season Governors’ Cup.
George King scored on a lay-up with 5.2 seconds left on a goaltending violation after Robert Bolick was ruled to have pulled the net while the ball was still in the rim for the marginal basket.
SMB saw NLEX rookie LJ Gonzales miss a corner three-point attempt in the final seconds to secure the stunning win on a night when June Mar Fajardo became the latest player to reach the 10,000-point plateau.
READ Fajardo becomes latest member of PBA's 10,000-point club
San Miguel ended up in a tie with NLEX for the best record in Group A at 9-3 win-loss, but the Beermen still finished with the No. 2 seed after failing to meet the required winning margin to steal the top position.
King finished with 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field in willing his team to victory in a perfect buildup for the quarterfinal round. Fajardo added 26 points and 10 rebounds.
The loss spoiled the 43-point effort of Deonte Burton, who scored a running shot with 1:23 left in the game to give NLEX a 133-129 lead.
Robert Bolick had 13 points and a career-high 15 assists in the NLEX defeat.
San Miguel will face the No. 3 seed in Group B with momentum following the come-from-behind win.
“Before the start of the game, what I told the team is let us play to win,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria. “Even though we know na this is for positioning lang, what we want to develop is the killer instinct that we have been having since the first time we won the championship, and then never nangyari sa amin na no-bearing game na we didn’t play that well."
Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano scored back-to-back baskets to erase that four-point deficit. Bolick missed a lay-up in the next NLEX possession before the King game-winner.
The scores:
San Miguel 135 – King 27, Fajardo 26, Trollano 23, Lassiter 19, Perez 14, Ross 8, Ahanmisi 8, Cruz 6, Tautuaa 4, Brondial 0.
NLEX 133 – Burton 43, Gonzales 20, Winston 20, Semerad 14, Bolick 13, Herndon 9, Alas 6, Valdez 6, Marcelo 2, Bahio 0, Gamboa 0, Nieto 0.
Quarters: 30-32; 60-68; 96-112; 135-133.
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