Beermen tie series vs Painters

MANILA, Philippines - Big man Junmar Fajardo was his old devastating self and he found offensive support from key Beermen as San Miguel turned lethal anew for a 105-92 win and a 2-2 standoff with Rain or Shine in their Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Fajardo scored 33 points and hauled down 15 rebounds while Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross put in their share, forming a solid team that foiled the Elasto Painters’ bid from taking what would’ve been a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Santos, Lassiter, Cabagnot and Ross made as much impact as Fajardo as the Beermen rediscovered their fierce form, blowing the E-Painters away in the last 26 minutes of the contest to send the series back to where it started last week.

“The players voiced out their opinions in our talks the last time. They all responded in this game, showing a great desire to win,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

“We usually had a bad start. This time, we came out strong and held on. The guys stuck with the game plan except when we already had a huge lead towards the end,” Austria also said.

ROS coach Yeng Guiao said they had no chance at winning the game with Fajardo playing his usual game and getting the needed support from the other SMB core players.

“They hit the early threes on us, then they have the inside threat. It’s difficult to handle that,” said Guiao.

“We can’t survive Fajardo scoring 30 points then there are their shooters scoring 20, 19, 13 and 12. We have to choose, not both,” Guiao added.

Fajardo’s double-double effort was both below his outputs in the previous games in the series. But Lassiter, Santos, Cabagnot and Ross all outdid themselves.

Lassiter came through with 20 points, including 4-of-4 treys, and spearheaded their drive in the first half on the way to a 53-46 lead at the turn.

Santos struck for 19 markers, including 12 in the third quarter where they broke the game wide open at 90-68.

Ross and Cabagnot fired 13 and 12 points, respectively, while alternately quarterbacking for the team.

In contrast, Rain or Shine sorely missed the services of the injury-hit Raymond Almazan and Jericho Cruz.

“They really suffered as they’re not used to a short rotation. Their players are not used to playing long minutes,” noted Austria.

The good news for Rain or Shine was the result of Cruz’s MRI test showed no major injury to the six-foot guard.

Cruz suited up willing to play, but Guiao opted to rest him. He played only 10 men, one (Paul Lee) of them failing to finish the game due to fouls.

For the first time in the series, the Beermen won the first-half battle at 53-46 behind the 9-0 closing run by Cabagnot, Lassiter and Fajardo.

For a change, the Beermen got to a strong start, taking control most of the opening half with Lassiter and Fajardo scoring 16 and 11 points, respectively.

Lassiter fired away 4-of-4 three-pointers to highlight his best first half in the series.

The Elasto Painters waged a rally from 12 points then held the lead briefly before Lassiter canned a triple then Cabagnot made three clutch plays, including a pick-and-roll with Fajardo, as the Beermen carried a seven-point lead over into the second half.