BIÑAN CITY - San Miguel Beer warmed up for the PBA Governors' Cup playoffs with a 107-101 victory over Blackwater on Sunday night at the Alonte Sports Arena.
The Beermen squandered an early 17-point lead, but did enough work to score the win.
Elijah Millsap put up a solid debut with 25 points, 14 boards, and four assists before fouling out late in the fourth quarter while Alex Cabagnot hit timely treys that prevented the Elite from finishing their campaign on a positive note.
Blackwater bowed out of the season with a 10th in 11 games.
As result, SMB finished the eliminations with an 8-3 win-loss record and is facing either Alaska or NLEX in the first round of the playoffs.
"We knew we could win this game," SMB coach Leo Austia said. "I had a chance to give time to the players."
Cabagnot finished with 17 points built around four triples, while Arwind Santos and June Mar Fajardo also came through with 19 and 18 points, respectively.
Ronald Tubid actually spearheaded SMB's long-range barrage with five of the team's 16 conversions from beyond the arc.
Art dela Cruz led the Elite with 23 points, including 14 in the third and two on a floater that gave them their first taste of the lead at 69-67, completing a turnaround after they trailed, 31-48, late in tge first half.
The Beermen, though, regained their bearings and built another sizeable lead, enough to preserve the result.
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