MANILA – San Miguel Beermen barged into the win column of the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup after a 99-91 victory over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Christian Standhardinger led the way with 26 points, while Chris Ross and Marcio Lassiter combined for 10 triples to finish with 22 and 16 points, respectively, for the Beermen (1-1).
Holding to a slim 20-17 lead, the Beermen drew strength on inside conversions of Standhardinger and back-to-back outside hits from Kelly Nabong for a 44-35 halftime lead.
The swelled further in the third frame with Ross and Lassiter finding their shooting touch from outside and Standhardinger and June Mar Fajardo scoring inside for a 73-51 edge.
The Kings went on a strong push in the fourth quarter behind Bernabe Teodoro and LA Tenorio to come to within 89-94 but a triple by Lassiter and a basket from Ross to wrap up Beermen’s win.
Tenorio finished with 24 points, while Japeth Aguilar and Gregory Slaughter had 20 and 11 markers, respectively, for the Kings, which dropped to 1-1.
In the first game, NorthPort Batang Pier survived an endgame surge by the NLEX Road Warriors for a 95-90 victory, its second in the season-opening conference.
After seeing its 81-75 lead chopped down to 87-89 by the Road Warriors, the Batang Pier banked on conversions by Sean Anthony and Moala Tautuaa to eke out the win.
Anthony led the way with 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Tautuaa and Robert Bolick added 18 and 14 points, respectively, for the Batang Pier (2-0).
John Paul Erram finished with 19 points, while JR Quinahan chipped in 18 markers for the Road Warriors, which suffered its second loss in as many games./PN
