MANILA – San Miguel Beermen formalized its entry in the quarterfinals of the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup with a 115-106 win over Blackwater Elite on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Arwind Santos led the way for Beermen (6-4) with double-double 23 points and 15 rebounds. Marcio Lassiter added 18 points, including four triples while Kelly Nabong contributed 13 points.
Beermen had a flat start and was down by as much as 11 points until it turned things around in the second period behind Lassiter, Santos and June Mar Fajardo for a 57-49 halftime lead.
San Miguel continued to pull away in the third quarter with shots from Nabong, Renaldo Balkman and Alex Cabagnot until it built its largest lead in the match 107-83 on a triple by Brian Heruela.
Blackwater its last push late in the game to trim the deficit 102-111 on baskets from Nard John Pinto and Raphael Banal but back-to-back scoring from Santos sealed the win for Beermen.
“That is a very important game sa’min,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria. “Although alam namin kaya naming manalo dito, I told them before the game (Blackwater) are a very dangerous team since they have nothing to lose.”
Henry Walker finished with double-double 26 points and 12 rebounds for Elite, which ended its campaign with a 1-10 win-loss card. Michael Digregorio and Pinto had 19 and 13 points, respectively.
In the second game, Magnolia Hotshots leaned on the hot hands of Paul Lee and Wayne Chism as it waylaid NLEX Road Warriors 116-89 to move closer to a quarterfinals seat.
Despite numerous attempts from Road Warriors to come back in the game, Hotshots always found a way to surge with timely outside baskets from Lee and Chism to clinch the victory.
Chism finished the match with 27 points, including five 3-point baskets, while Lee added 21 markers for Hotshots (5-5), which will try to fortify its entry into the playoffs when it faces Beermen on Saturday./PN
