Games Wednesday:

(Ynares Sports Arena)
12: 30 p.m. — San Miguel vs. Blackwater
3 p.m. — Rain or Shine vs. Alaska
6 p.m. – Phoenix vs. Meralco

FORMER PBA MVP Arwind Santos hit the game’winner with 1.2 seconds left as San Miguel Beer escaped with a dramatic 88-86 win over hard-fighting NorthPort in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Santos’ heroics came after Greg Slaughter scored on a hook shot over June Mar Fajardo with 47.8 seconds left and Robert Bolick nailed a free throw following a technical foul on Santos to tie the score for the last time at 86-all with 7.3 seconds left.

Santos then came through with the uncontested game-winning basket off Marcio Lassiter’s assist to lead the Beermen to back-to-back victories in the coronavirus-delayed season-opening tournament.
.”A win is a win. It was an ugly finish, ugly game for us in the fourth quarter,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.

“But this (win) is badly needed and I’m happy na we snatched this game dahil this could give us some momentum going to the next three games,” added Austria.

“I hope this momentum magtuloy-tuloy na because we have another game on Wednesday and after Blackwater we have two big teams, Ginebra and Magnolia.”

New acquisition CJ Perez led the way for the Beermen with 18 points, eight rebounds and five steals while Santos added 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks.

Two other players — Alex Cabagnot and Mo Tautuaa — also scored in double figures for San Miguel.

Cabagnot contriubted 16 points, seven assists and four rebounds while Tautuaa had 11. Fajardo managed eight points and seven rebounds in his third game back for the Beermen.

Slaughter, who was acquired by NorthPort from Ginebra in exchange for Greg Standhardinger, made his presence felt with 23 points and 17 rebounds in his first game for the Batang Pier.

Bolick finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists while Syydney Onwubere added 12 markers for the Pido Jarencio-mentored Batang Pier, who rallied from.65-81 deficit early in the fourth quarter to make the game interesting.

NorthPort dropped to 1-2.

The win also extended San Miguel’s dominance over NorthPort to 11 since businessman- sportsman Mikee Romero took over the former Coca-Cola franchise following the 2012 season.

Later, Magnolia outlasted Barangay Ginebea, 89-79 , to join Rain or Shine in the lead with three straight victories.

Paul Lee finished with 22 points, Ian Sangalang added 17 points and Mark Barroca and Calvin Abueva contributed 15 points apiece for the Hotshots, who stayed unbeaten after the second week of competition.

Magnolia led by as many as 16 points, 65-49, but needed a strong fini⁹sh to hold off Ginebra.

Stanley Pringle led Ginebra with 22 points, including 16 in the final period, and added seven rebounds, six assists, and two steals.

LA Tenorio, Christian Standhardinger, and Scottie Thompson all contributed 13 for the Gin Kings, who dropped to 1-2 in their title defense

The scores:

First game

San Miguel (88) — Perez 18, Santos 17, Cabagnot 16, Tautuaa 11, Fajardo 8, Lassiter 6, Pessumal 6, Ross 3, Gamalinda 3, NorthPort (86) – Slaughter 23, Bolick 18, Onwubere 12, Balanza 11, Malonzo 10, Taha 9, Rike 1, Ferrer 1, Faundo 0, Elorde 0, Doliguez 0 Quarterscores: 21-21, 52-45, 79-63, 88-86.

Second game

Magnolia (89) – Lee 22, Sangalang 17, Abueva 15, Barroca 15, Corpuz 9, Jalalon 5, Dela Rosa 4, Reavis 2, Ahanmisi 0, Pascual 0, Dionisio 0. Ginebra (79) – Pringle 22, Tenorio, 13, Standhardinger 13, Thompson 13, Aguilar 9, Chan 9, Dillinger 0, Ayaay 0, Devance 0, R. Aguilar 0, Caperal 0. Quarterscores: 22-22, 46-42, 67-56, 89-79.