By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — San Miguel’s fiery guards backed up by a dominant import proved lethal once as the Beermen blasted the TNT KaTropa Texters, 109-97, in Game 3 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals Sunday night.
SMB thus took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
Alex Cabagnot made mincemeat of the Texters’ defense, scoring a game-high 28 points along with nine rebounds, six assists, one steal, and one block.
His backcourt partner Chris Ross was just as deadly, finishing with 17 points, five assists, three rebounds, and four steals.
Charles Rhodes dominated both ends of the court, posting 25 points and 20 boards despite going up against a bigger counterpart in TNT’s Joshua Smith.
Marcio Lassiter also found his shooting touch from long range after missing 12 three-point shot attempts in two straight games, starting Game 3 with a triple. He finished with 16 points, seven assists, and one steal.
Arwind Santos added 10 points off the bench.
With the quartet of Cabagnot, Ross, Rhodes, and Lassiter on fire from the get-go, two-time MVP June Mar Fajardo didn’t have to do much, finishing with just six points, five boards, two blocks, one assist, and one steal.
The two teams fought furiously in the first half, which ended with TNT ahead by one point, 47-46.
The Beermen finally unleashed their full might at the start of the third quarter. They kept firing away while applying suffocating defense, outscoring the Texters throughout the second half even when Rhodes was forced to sit on the bench for long stretches due to foul trouble.
RR Garcia paced TNT with 19 points and four assists while import Joshua Smith collected 18 points, 14 boards, three assists, two blocks, and one steal in just 24 minutes.
Jayson Castro scored 17 points, but some of his points came when SMB was already virtually assured of the victory. He also committed 10 turnovers in 30 minutes.
Roger Pogoy ended up scoreless for the second straight game even though he logged the most minutes on the floor at 38 among the Texters.
A heated confrontation between Ross and Ryan Reyes midway through the second period nearly ended in a fight.
Game Wednesday: San Miguel Beermen vs. TNT KaTropa Texters (Game 4, best-of-7 Finals; SMB leads 2-1).
