SAN MIGUEL Beer made mincemeat of GlobalPort, 95-69, for its fourth straight victory on Tuesday in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The outcome was decided as early as the first half, when the Beermen scattered eight three-pointers out of 13 attempts to erect a 56-29 cushion en route to the lopsided victory that sent them to a share of the lead with the idle Alaska Aces with a 7-1 win-loss record.
San Miguel did not need an explosive performance from reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo as heroes came aplenty for the team of Head Coach Leo Austria, while their opponents struggled big time with their shots to absorb their first back-to-back defeats this season.
Arwind Santos led six Beermen in double figures with 19 points while Fajardo, who had a career-best 36 points the last time out, had a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds in just three quarters of play.
“[Out of] our eight games, this is the best win we had,” said Austria, who also drew 12 markers apiece from Ronald Tubid and Chris Ross, and 10 each from Chris Lutz and Jeric Fortuna.
“GlobalPort came from a road trip and they didn’t have a good preparation. Kami naman we had five days to prepare for them,” Austria added.
And it was a big factor early as San Miguel shot 50 percent from the field in the first half. The Beermen pulled away in the second period, where they outscored Batang Pier, 35-12, to turn a slim 21-17 first-quarter lead into a 56-29 separation going into the break.
Their lead ballooned to as many as 29 points, 88-59, on Santos’s jumper midway in the fourth.
Mark Isip had 12 points for GlobalPort, while Stanley Pringle and Keith Jensen each had 11 for Head Coach Pido Jarencio. Terrence Romeo, who averaged 28 points in the last two games, was held to just seven markers on three-of-14 shooting from the field.
Batang Pier shot three-of-31 from the rainbow territory, while the Beermen were 10-of-20 from beyond the arc.
The win boosted San Miguel’s bid for a top-2 finish after the 11-game elimination round.
Image credits: PBA Image