MANILA – San Miguel Beermen moved closer to sweeping the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations after a 120-103 beating of the NLEX Road Warriors on Sunday night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
Jaymar Perez spearheaded the offense with 30 points to go with nine rebounds, while June Mar Fajardo posted a double-double of 20 points and 21 rebounds as the Beermen improved to a 9-0 record.
Terrence Romeo and Jericho Cruz came off-the-bench to contribute 15 markers apiece, while Celedonio Trollano and Marcio Lassiter ended with 14 markers apiece for the reigning champions.
The Beermen set the tone in the opening period behind inside shots from Fajardo for a 25-15 lead, an advantage that grew to as high as 18 points at 92-74 following a basket from Romeo.
The Road Warriors, however, made their last push to cut the deficit to 85-96 with over six minutes left, but the Beermen got conversions from Trollano and Perez to pull away anew at 100-85.
Enoch Valdez led the way for the Road Warriors with points, Jhan Nermal added 16 markers Matt Nieto, Sean Anthony, and Robbie Herndon contributed 14, 12, and 11, respectively, as they dropped to a 5-4 win-loss card.
Meanwhile, Arvin Tolentino connected a go-ahead basket as NorthPort Batang Pier (5-6) pulled off a 115-113 victory over Blackwater Bossing (3-6) at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
After leading by as much as 19 points early in the third quarter, the Batang Pier suddenly found themselves trailing at 107-113, but back-to-back baskets and two free throws by Tolentino tied the score at 113-all.
The Bossing then committed a turnover, which led to the go-ahead fallaway basket by Tolentino over the defense of Christian David. Blackwater still had a chance to snatch the win, but Rey Nambatac missed his triple try.
Tolentino had near triple-double numbers of 27 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists to lead the Batang Pier, Joshua Munzon added 16 markers, and rookie Damie Cuntapay finished with a career-high of 15 points./ PN
BOX SCORE:
SAN MIGUEL 120 – Perez 30, Fajardo 20, Romeo 15, Cruz 15, Lassiter 14, Trollano 14, Enciso 6, Brondial 4, Teng 2, Tautuaa 0, Ross 0.
NLEX 103 – Valdez 18, Nermal 16, Nieto 14, Anthony 12, Herndon 11, Rodger 8, Miranda 7, Semerad 7, Fajardo 4, Amer 2, Taha 2.
Quarterscores: 25-15, 50-41, 83-71, 120-103.
