By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — The San Miguel Beermen unleashed just enough firepower to demolish the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 110-88, for their second straight victory in the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Friday night.
The Beermen, the reigning three-peat Philippine Cup champions, broke the game wide open after halftime and cruised to victory after erecting at 25-point lead. SMB thus defeated the only team it failed to beat during the last Philippine Cup as it joined Star (4-0) and Alaska (4-0) as the only unbeaten teams in the conference.
Phoenix suffered its third loss in five games.
June Mar Fajardo led six Beermen in double digits, finishing with 22 points and eight boards.
Import Charles Rhodes tallied 19 points and 10 rebounds. Marcio Lassiter added 15 markers, Alex Cabagnot had 14 while Arwind Santos and Chris Ross chipped in 11 points apiece.
The Beermen began pulling away as early as the second quarter when they unleashed a 15-0 run sparked by three-pointers from Santos and Lassiter.
Import Jameel Mckay led the Fuel Masters with 21 points and 16 rebounds.
RJ Jazul added 16 points while JC Intal chipped in 14.
Top Phoenix local scorer Matthew Wright was a huge letdown, missing all his 13 shots after scoring a career-high 27 points in their victory over Ginebra last Saturday in Davao.
TNT KaTropa 126, NLEX 121
The TNT KaTropa Texters fought back from a 29-point deficit to beat the NLEX Road Warriors in overtime, 126-121.
Jayson Castro led the Texters with game-highs of 32 points and 11 assists as he presided over a furious TNT charge in the third quarter after falling behind, 60-89.
It was the Texters’ third straight win after losing their first game in the conference. The hapless Road Warriors remained winless in five games.
Castro could have won the game outright in regulation, with the score tied at 113-all, but he missed a 10-foot fall away jumper at the buzzer, forcing overtime.
Castro then joined import Donte Greene and rookie Roger Pogoy to spark a 10-0 run at the start of the extension period to the utter dismay of the Road Warriors as they once again collapsed in the endgame after a hot start.
Greene finished with a double-double 26 points and 16 rebounds, Pogoy scored 20 markers as he and Ranidel de Ocampo led the TNT fightback in the third quarter when they combined for 23 points. De Ocampo tallied 22 points while Troy Rosario had 16.
Import Wayne Chism paced the luckless NLEX with 35 points and 21 boards. Kevin Alas added 19 markers while Carlo Lastimosa and Juami Tiongson chipped in 13 and 10, respectively.
Games Saturday: GlobalPort Batang Pier (0-3) vs. Blackwater Elite (0-4) and Meralco Bolts (4-1) vs. Alaska Aces (4-0).
