Beermen rally past Aces, lead series, 2-0

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Beer struggled at the start but recovered their bearing in the second half as they hacked out a come-from-behind 105-94 victory over Alaska Milk to move in the threshold of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The Beermen get their first of three cracks at it in Game Three tomorrow, also at the Big Dome.

Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra also seeks a commanding 2-0 lead versus Rain or Shine in Game Two of their own best-of-five semifinal series at 7 p.m. tonight in the same venue.

Somehow humbled by Diamon Simpson’s 31-point and 24-rebound showing in Game One, Renaldo Balkman and June Mar Fajardo both churned out solid double-double games, leading SMB’s decisive second-half charge as they repeated their 92-79 win Saturday and zeroed in on a seventh championship appearance in 11 conferences.

Balkman piled up 31 points and 10 rebounds while Fajardo logged in 21 markers and 18 boards as the Beermen actually nailed a sixth straight win in playoff matches over the Aces dating back to their epic fightback from a 0-3 deficit in the 2016 Philippine Cup Finals.

Chris Ross contributed 16 points in a rebound from a mere three-point game the last time while Alex Cabagnot came up with 14 markers, nine assists, four steals and three rebounds as they also played stellar roles in foiling Alaska’s attempt to tie their best-of-five semis series at a game apiece.

“It’s so important to salvage the game. The complexion of the series would change had they got the game,” said Fajardo.

“Credit goes to my teammates. I lost my focus in the first half and they helped me recover in the second half. Then we all stepped up to win the game,” Fajardo also said.

Even on the continued absence of Calvin Abueva and Chris Banchero, the Aces waged a tremendous fight at the start, knowing well how tough it is to recover from a 0-2 hole in a race-to-three-games series.

They set the pace through the first half, establishing a 16-point spread at 41-25 before settling for a 52-42 cushion at halftime.

The scores:

San Miguel 105 – Balkman 31, Fajardo 21, Ross 16, Cabagnot 14, Lassiter 8, Santos 5, Nabong 5, Heruela 3, Standhardinger 2.

Alaska 94 – Enciso 19, Simpson 19, Manuel 15, Teng 13, Casio 12, Thoss 6, Cruz 5, Galliguez 3, Racal 2, Baclao 0, Exciminiano 0.

Quarterscores: 18-29; 41-52; 79-74; 105-94