June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer battles two Rain or Shine defenders. PBA photo
Game 1 to San Miguel
SAN Miguel Beer survived a major scare before beating Rain or Shine, 101-98, in the opener of their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal showdown at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
June Mar Fajardo was again an unstoppable force for San Miguel as he finished with a game-high 23 points on a prolific 8-of-11 shooting, 11 rebounds, five assists and l three blocks in nearly 38 minutes of action.
Don Trollano added 17 points and six rebounds, Marcio Lassiter contributed 16 points, Terrence Romeo had 14 points and CJ Perez had 13 points and seven rebounds in San Miguel’s hard-earned victory.
San Miguel took control for most part of the game behind the strong inside game of Fajardo and the outside shooting of Lassiter, Romeo and Trollano, who combined for seven of the Beermen’s 10 triples for the night.
Lassiter mad 4-of-6, Romeo went 2-of-3 and Trollano had 2-of-6 from the rainbow territory.
Still, the top-seeded Beermen couldn’t shake off the hard-fighting E-Painters.
In fact, Rain or Shine even had a chance to send the game into overtime, but Andrei Caracut’s long three-pointer with only four seconds left failed to find the mark.
Before Caracut’s pitential game-tying triple, Trollano air-balled a three-point shot of his own with exactly 12 seconds left to give Rain or Shine a chance.
Gian Mamuyac, Beau Belga, Jhonard Clarito and Leo Santillan carried the fight for the E-Painters, who kept the game close and interesting throughout.
Mamuyac finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Belga added 17 points and seven rebounds, Clarito had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists and Santillan had 13 points and eight rebounds.
The scores:
San Miguel (101) — Fajardo 23, Trollano 17, Lassiter 16, Romeo 14, Perez 13, Tautuaa 7, Brondial 6, Teng 3, Cruz 2, Ross 0.
Rain or Shine (98) — Mamuyac 20, Belga 17, Clarito 13, Santillan 13, Caracut 9, Demusis 6, Datu 6, Borboran 5, Ildefonso 4, Asistio 3, Norwood 2, Nocum 0, Peredes 0.
Quartersores: 31-24, 49-44, 82-78, 101-98.
Games Sunday:
(Mall of Asia Arena)
3 p.m. — Ginebra vs. Meralco
6:15 p.m. — San Miguel vs. Rain or Shine
