San Miguel back on track vs Magnolia

Game tomorrow (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

6:30 p.m. – San Miguel vs Magnolia

MANILA, Philippines — After a listless outing in the finals curtain-raiser, San Miguel Beer summoned its old deadly self and went full steam in a 108-101 drubbing of Magnolia to put the PBA Philippine Cup finals series on level at 1-1 last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.  

Unlike in their 94-99 setback in Game 1 where June Mar Fajardo was forced to carry the heavy burden, the Beermen joined hands in a balanced attack that saw six others  finishing in twin digits to seal the bounceback victory and avoid falling into a 0-2 hole.

Fajardo, who posted 35 points and 21 rebounds in the opener, shot 16  plus 14 rebounds but got more than enough support from Alex Cabagnot (16), Chris Ross (15), Marcio Lassiter (15), Arwind Santos (13), Christian Standhardinger (13) and Terrence Romeo, who scored 13 before getting tossed out with 6:23 left in the fourth.

“We really wanted to win this one so we won’t face a 0-2 deficit. I told them we have to step up especially on defense and show some energy. That’s it,” said SMB coach Leo Austria, who drew 55 points from his second unit and 12 triples from his snipers.

“We were able to set up our plays tonight and not concentrate too much on June Mar. Our scoring was evenly divided. In fact, seven scored in double figures,” noted Austria. 

The Beermen lay the foundation to the emphatic win with a 20-5 bomb to end the first half with a 51-41 tear. Just getting started, they unleashed a big 32-point outburst in the third period to widen the gap at 83-66.

All things went SMB’s way, except perhaps for Romeo’s ejection from back-to-back technicals for complaining.

“He’s a warrior, he wants to win badly, that’s why he doesn’t want to be at a disadvantage. These are all part of basketball and he should be matured to handle it. I think slowly he’ll get that,” said Austria.

Magnolia coach Chito Victolero, whose team was led by Ian Sangalang’s 18 and Jio Jalalon’s 15, admitted getting outplayed by the Beermen’s offensive juggernaut.

“They controled the tempo of the game. Like I said, if  we allow them to score more than 100 points, most likely we’ll lose. We just couldn’t dictate things in terms of defense,” he said. 

Notes:  The PBA slapped suspensions on a table official and a referee for missing a 24-second violation call during Game Seven of the semifinal series between Magnolia and Rain or Shine. According to commissioner Willie Marcial, table official Carlo Santos and referee Sherwin Pineda erred in not calling the infraction when Magnolia’s Rome dela Rosa launched his shot clock-beating attempt from beyond the arc that eventually went in and gave the Hotshots a 53-50 lead late in the do-or-die game. Since it was deemed a “judgment call” play wasn’t reviewed. Santos was suspended for an undisclosed period while Pineda got a ban for two game days. 

The scores:

San Miguel 108 – Fajardo 16, Cabagnot 16, Ross 15, Lassiter 15, Santos 13, Romeo 13, Standhardinger 13, Pessumal 5, Rosser 2, Nabong 0, Zamar 0.

Magnolia 101 – Sangalang 18, Jalalon 15, Barroca 12, Pascual 11, Lee 10, Melton 9, Simon 6, Ramos 6, Herndon 5, Dela Rosa 4, Reavis 2, Calisaan2, Brondial 1.

Quarterscores: 23-22, 51-41, 83-66, 108-101.