Beermen grounds slumping Meralco, 101-86, in PH Cup

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By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Friday, December 30, 2016
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MANILA – The San Miguel Beermen averted a second half collapse as it scored a 101-86 win over the Meralco Bolts in the 2016-2017 Oppo PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday night at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Marcio Lassiter led the way with 21 points, including three 3-point conversions, for the defending champion Beermen, which solidified its hold on the top-spot with a 5-1 win-loss record.
Alex Cabagnot chipped in 20 markers, with 17 coming in the opening half, while Chris Ross, June Mar Fajardo and Ilonggo Ronald Tubid had 18, 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Beermen.
San Miguel jumped to a 22-6 lead in the game on consecutive triples by Ross, Cabagnot and Tubid. The lead continued to grow on conversions by Cabagnot and Yancy de Ocampo ending the opening period.
The Bolts tried to launch a comeback in the second frame but the Beermen was well-guarded as it kept the lead at 58-27 heading into the break behind hits by reserves Brian Heruela and Keith Agovida.
The Beermen built its largest edge at 60-29 early in the third frame on a basket by Fajardo but the Bolts mounted a fight back to come to within 79-67 on a basket by Ilonggo Ken Bono.
The Bolts came to its closest at 88-79 on conversions by Baser Amer and Kelly Nabong but the Beermen answered back with hits from Ross and Arwind Santos for a 96-84 lead.
“’Yung perimeter shooting namin nag-click,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria. “Everybody’s working really hard to win this game. We want to end the year on a winning note.”
Chris Newsome top-scored with 16 points, while Joseph Yeo and Amer had 12 markers each for the Bolts, which suffered its third straight defeat to slide down to 2-4 in the standings./PN
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