MANILA, Philippines — The San Miguel Beermen fended off the Meralco Bolts late in Game Three of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals for a 96-91 win to regain the series lead at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
June Mar Fajardo, who finished with a double-double of 21 points and 16 rebounds, converted on timely makes at the charity stripe to keep the Bolts at bay.
The Bolts kept themselves within striking distance despite trailing by 10 at one point in the ball game.
Two freebies from Aaron Black got Meralco within four, 84-88, with two minutes left.
But Meralco went ice cold on offense in the next minute and a half before Kyle Pascual converted on two charity shots to cut the deficit to six, 86-92, with 30 ticks remaining.
CJ Perez added freebies of his own in the next play to push the lead back to eight and help SMB hold on for the victory.
Perez was the top scorer for SMB with 26 markers.
Chris Newsome finished with 16 points to lead Meralco in the loss, while Cliff Hodge contributed 12 points and 13 rebounds.
SMB thus take a 2-1 lead heading into Game Four, which tips off Wednesday at the same venue.