SAN Miguel Beer rode on the hot hands of CJ Perez to take down Phoenix Super LPG, 116-102 in the Easter Sunday Special of the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Perez exploded with 32 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the field on top of five assists and four rebounds in 31 minutes of action for coach Jorge Gallent.

Jericho Cruz and Terrence Romeo added 17 and 16 points, respectively, while seven-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo contributed with a double-double performance of 13 points and 12 rebounds in the Beermen’s third straight victory.

Don Trollano chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds.

Jayjay Alejandro and Matthew Daves led the Fuel Masters in scoring with 13 points each.

Javee Mocon added 12 points and seven rebounds while Jason Perkins had a double-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for coach Jamike Jarin.

Kent Salado and Ricci Rivero chipped in with 10 points each.

The Beermen led by eight points, 104-96 with 3:24 left in the fourth quarter and pulled away beh8nd a 9-0 run to make it 113-96 with 1:19 remaining.

The win of SMB enabled it to assume the solo lead witha 3-0 win-loss record.

Phoenix, on the other hand, dropped to 1-4.

Perez said he is happy to be able to conyribute to San miguel’s successm

“I’m just trying to be consistent kasi ayaw kong sayangin ‘yung trust nila coach,” said Perez, who managed inly 16 points in the Beermen’s first two games.

Against Phoenix, he made 13 of his 20 shots, including 4-of-8 from deep after playing a personal conference-high 31 minutes.

“Actually, dumagdag nga kompiyansa, sabi nga ni coach, dahil sa All-Stars,” added Perez.

“First two games medyo nag-he-hesitate ako talaga kasi mas nakukuha ko rhythm ko pag umaatake ako. Pero sabi nga ni coach, just be confident when you take those 3s.”

The scores:

San Miguel (116) — Perez 32, Cruz 17, Romeo 16, Trollano 10, Tautuaa 8, Lassiter 6, Brondial 6, manuel 4, Enciso 3, Teng 1, Ross 0.
Phoenix (102) — Alejandro 13, Daves 13, Mocon 12, Perkins 11, Salado 10, Rivero 10, Tuffin 9, Muyang 6, Jazul 5, Verano 5, Manganti 4, Camaco 2, Lalata 2, Garcia 0.
Quarterscores: 27-23, 49-45, 86-75, 116-102.

Games Wednesday:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
4:30 p.m. — Meralco vs. Terrafirma
7:30 p.m. — Rain or Shine vs. Converge