MANILA – Christian Standhardinger stretched his impressive showing in the 18th Asian Games to the PBA Governors’ Cup as he towed San Miguel Beermen to a 125-112 win over NLEX Road Warriors on Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Arriving straight from Jakarta, Indonesia on Saturday afternoon, Standhardinger immediately made his presence felt for Beermen with career-high 36 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
Arizona Reid chipped in 30 markers, 15 rebounds and six assists, while Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter contributed 20 and 14 points, respectively, for the Beermen (1-0), which played sans injured June Mar Fajardo.
Trailing 26-28 at the end of the opening period, San Miguel gained the advantage in the second period with inside hits from Standhardinger and Reid to take a 62-54 halftime lead.
The Beermen continued its run in the third period on back-to-back treys by Chris Ross to raise the edge 85-65. NLEX answered with a run but San Miguel regained a 19-point lead on shots from Brian Heruela and Cabagnot.
The Road Warriors rallied to as close as 86-97 early in the fourth period but Standhardinger stamped class anew on the inside with consecutive baskets to raise the Beermen’s lead back to 20 points.
Aaron Fuller led the way with 36 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, while Kenneth Ighalo and Michael Miranda added 16 markers apiece for the Road Warriors (3-2).
In the first game, Magnolia Hotshots leaned on Andy Mark Barroca, Jio Jalalon and Rome dela Rosa to cruise to a 104-87 victory over the shorthanded NorthPort Batang Pier.
The Hotshots started strong behind Barroca, Romeo Travis and Rome dela Rosa for a 27-17 lead before settling for a 48-39 halftime edge with Jalalon and Simon contributing on the offense.
Magnolia pulled away for good in the third period – with a tight defense and conversions from Barroca, Travis and Dela Rosa, it built its largest lead in the game 102-73 with over three minutes remaining.
Barroca led Magnolia (2-0) with 22 points, while Dela Rosa and Travis added 17 and 15 points, respectively. Rashad Wood topped the Batang Pier’s (0-3) scoring with 25./PN
