ANOTHER escape act for San Miguel Beer.

Don Trollano and Jericho Cruz saved the day as San Miguel Beer escaped with a heart-stopping 95-92 victory over Barangay Ginebra to keep its perfect record in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Gilas mainstay CJ Perez spearheaded the Beermen’s scoring, finishing with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists for coach Jorge Gallent.

Trollano added 15 points and eight rebounds while June Mar Fajardo tallied 14 points and 10 rebounds to help the Beermen keep their flawless record in the tournament.

Mo Tautuaa and Terrence Romeo contributed with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Cruz chipped in with eight points.

Veteran Japeth Aguilar was the leading man for the Gin Kings with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and four rebounds.

Maverick Ahanmisi added 16 points and 10 rebounds for coach Tim Cone.

Stanley Pringle had 15 points while Christian Standhardinger and Jamie Malonzo chipped in with 14 points each for Ginebra, which dropped to 3-2 win-loss record.

Standhardinger also had 17 rebounds and six assists.

The Beermen almost wasted a 18-point lead but Trollano and Cruz took charge.

But the bigger things for the Beermen really were Trollano’s and Cruz’ clutch hits with the Kings threatening at 91-93.

But it was a mere escape.

“We have to do a better job defending,” said San Miguel coach Jorge Gallent, ruing their near fall in the game where they led by 18 at 84-66 early in the fourth.

Despite playing with early foul troubles, Fajardo and Tautuaa managed to help the Beermen’s victory.

“Good thing June Mar and Mo didn’t get their fifth foul. And though having four fouls in the first half, they continued to play defense,” said Gallent.

“I just stayed composed. Alam naman natin na never say die ang Ginebra,” said Trollano, gaining the Best Player of the Game honors with 15 points and eight rebounds.

The scores:

San Miguel (95) — Perez 18, Trollano 15, Fajardo 14, Tautuaa 12, Romeo 11, Brondial 8, Cruz 8, Lassiter 6, Ross 3, Manuel 0, Enciso 0.
Ginebra (92) — J.Aguilar 17, Ahanmisi 16, Pringle 15, Malonzo 14, Standhardinger 14, Tenorio 8, Onwubere 8, David 0, Gumaru 0, Cu 0, Pinto 0.
Quarterscores: 33-18, 56-50, 82-66, 95-92