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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Saturday, June 24, 2017
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MANILA – San Miguel Beermen regained its form in the 2017 Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven finals with a 102-88 domination over TNT Katropa in a highly-physical Game 2 last night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
June Mar Fajardo led the way with double-double 22 points and 11 rebounds for Beermen, which bounced back from a series-opener defeat to level the championship series at 1-1.
Chris Ross added 20 markers while Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot contributed 16 and 13 points, respectively, for the Beermen which survived another foul-plagued game from import Charles Rhodes.
Katropa waxed hot early as it built a commanding 17-0 advantage behind Jayson Castro and Anthony Semerad.
The Beermen, however, got a huge lift from Santos to trim the deficit to 32-24 heading into the second frame.
The Beermen continued its run in the second frame, taking a 33-32 lead on a basket by Rhodes. Ross and Fajardo then combined for points to extend the lead to 52-43 at the half.
The Beermen started to pull away in the third frame on conversions from Ross and Cabagnot for a 72-49 advantage.
The lead grew further to its largest at 94-62 on back-to-back hits by Fajardo.
“Unlike in Game 1, we were able to adjust here since we already knew that TNT would play with (Joshua) Smith,” said Beermen head coach Leo Austria. “But there is nothing to celebrate yet, we just tied the series.”
Castro finished with 14 points, while Semerad and Jeth Troy Rosario had 12 points apiece for Katropa whose star rookie Roger Pogoy was held scoreless after a career-game 27 points in Game 1.
BOX SCORE:
SAN MIGUEL 102 – Fajardo 22, Ross 20, Santos 16, Cabagnot 13, Lassiter 8, Rhodes 7, Espinas 6, Reyes 4, Tubid 2, Semerad 2, Agovida 2, Heruela 0, Van Opstal 0.
TNT 88 – Castro 14, Semerad 12, Rosario 12, Smith 11, Rosales 9, Tautuaa 8, Carey 8, Williams 4, De Ocampo 3, Garcia 3, Nuyles 2, Hernandez 2, Pogoy 0, Golla 0, Reyes 0, Tamsi 0.
Quarterscores: 24-32, 52-43, 90-62, 102-88./PN
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