By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — The San Miguel Beermen began their campaign in the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on a high note, brushing past the scrappy Meralco Bolts, 99-92, Sunday night.
The Philippine Cup three-peat champions had a slow start and fell by 15 points in the first half. The Beermen finally asserted their might after the halftime break to hand Meralco its first loss in five games.
June Mar Fajardo was his usual dominating self, finishing with a team-high 24 points on top of 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Alex Cabagnot added 23 markers, nine assists, and four boards while import Charles Rhodes put up 22 points and 12 rebounds in his PBA debut.
Marcio Lassiter chipped in 16 markers, five boards, and three assists, while Arwind Santos had 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.
The Beermen showed no rust after their last championship, shooting a sizzling 50 percent from the field.
Import Alex Stepheson and Jared Dillinger led Meralco with 21 points each. Stephenson added a team-high 26 rebounds, while Dillinger had four assists and three boards. Baser Amer chipped in 16 points in a losing effort.
Alaska 105, Rain or Shine 102
The Alaska Aces squeaked past the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 105-102, in a battle between the Commissioner’s Cup finalists last season.
Import Cory Jefferson exploded for 41 points, including back-to-back three pointers in the last two minutes of the game, to lift the Aces to their fourth straight victory and solo leadership of the conference.
The former Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns 6’9” power forward also grabbed 13 rebounds.
Jvee Casio added 16 markers while Sonny Thoss and Calvin Abueva chipped in 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Jefferson went wild in the third quarter, scoring 18 points in that period, to give Alaska its biggest lead at 14 points, 67-53.
The Painters, however, made a huge run of their own in the fourth quarter, grabbing the lead, 88-87, after a Mike Tolomia three-pointer.
James Yap then padded ROS lead to four, 91-87, with his own triple.
But Jefferson once again came to bail out the Aces with two triples, giving his team back the lead, 101-99, with just 30 ticks left.
After Casio sank two free throws, ROS import Shawn Taggart nailed a clutch three-pointer to cut Alaska’s lead to 103-102.
After Casio drilled two more free throws, the Painters had a chance to send the game into overtime with a triple. However, Tolomia’s attempt at the buzzer missed the mark as ROS suffered its second loss in five games.
Taggart nearly matched the performance of his Alaska counterpart, posting team-highs of 40 points and 14 boards in almost 40 minutes of play that went for naught.
Games Wednesday: Star Hotshots (3-0) vs. Mahindra Floodbuster (1-3) and Barangay Ginebra Kings (0-1) vs. GlobalPort Batang Pier (0-2).
