MANILA – San Miguel Beermen recovered from a double-digit deficit in the fourth period to snap the winning run of TNT KaTropa 107-96 in the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup on Saturday night at the Calasiao Sports Complex in Pangasinan.
Trailing 78-89 early in the final quarter, the Beermen mounted a huge run behind Christian Standhardinger, Kevin Murphy and Alex Cabagnot to seize the advantage 91-90 on a basket by Chris Ross.
The Beermen went on to lead 98-92 on 4 straight points by Murphy and a triple by Ross before shutting the door for good on the KaTropa via back-to-back triples from Murphy.
Murphy flirted with triple-double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Beermen (4-4).
Standhardinger also had a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Arwind Santos, Marcio Lassiter and Alex Cabagnot contributed 18, 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Beermen.
After a seesaw affair in the first two quarters, the KaTropa were poised to run away from the Beermen with baskets from Terrence Romeo and Marqus Blakely for a double-digit lead.
The Beermen rallied to within 5 points at the onset of the fourth quarter but the KaTropa pulled away anew for an 11-point lead, their largest in the game, on inside hits from Blakely and Jeth Troy Rosario.
Blakely finished the match with 26 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists, while Roger Pogoy and Romeo added 21 and 18 markers, respectively, for the KaTropa (4-5)./PN
