San Miguel turns back Meralco for 2nd victory
MANILA — The defending champion San Miguel Beermen handily collected win No. 2, turning back the hard-fighting Meralco Bolts, 101-85, Wednesday night in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Five Beermen scored in double digits led by Alex Cabagnot with 18 points, 16 of them scored in the fourth quarter. Arwind Santos nearly had a double-double, posting 16 points and nine rebounds — good enough to be named by the media as Best Player of the Game — scoring 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting to go along with 9 rebounds.
June Mar Fajardo added 14 points and 13 boards while Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Before the game, members of the SMB squad received their championship rings for winning last year’s all-Filipino Philippine Cup.
Meralco suffered its first loss but drew impressive performance from its rookie Chris Newsome who scored a team-high 14 points on top of seven rebounds and four assists. Newsome even posterised SMB’s Santos with a huge tomahawk jam in the third quarter.
Cliff Hodge added 14 points and seven boards while Jared Dillinger finished with 10 markers.
NLEX 93, Barako Bull 85
The NLEX Road Warriors started sluggishly but came out red-hot after the halftime break en route to their second straight win courtesy of a 93-85 victory over the Barako Bull Energy. It marked the first time in its young history that NLEX started a tournament with a 2-0 card.
The Road Warriors are now tied for the lead with Rain or Shine and San Miguel Beer.
Gilas Pilipinas veteran Asi Taulava posted a double-double of a team-high 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Sean Anthony also got plenty of credit for the win as he came out also with a double-double of 11 points and team-high and career-high 19 boards, plus two assists.
Mac Cardona added 12 points, Kevin Alas had 11 while Enrico Villanueva finished with 10 markers and four rebounds.
The Road Warriors excelled in defense, limiting the Energy to just 35 percent (29-of-82) shooting from the field.
Willie Wilson and JC Intal led the new-look Barako Bull with 16 points apiece. Wilson also had 17 boards and six assists. Mick Pennisi and RR Garcia added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Games Friday: Alaska Aces vs. Blackwater Elite and GlobalPort Batang Pier vs. Star Hotshots.
