MANILA – San Miguel Beermen leaned on a strong fourth quarter push to defeat Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 99-93, in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Holding to a 73-70 lead, the Beermen opened the fourth quarter with a triple from Marcio Lassiter, back-to-back inside hits from Rodney Brondial and a twinner by Jeepy Faundo for an 82-74 lead.
The Painters cut it to 78-82 on two straight hits by Shaun Ildefonso but a basket by Ilonggo Jericho Cruz, five straight points from Jaymar Perez and an inside hit by Brondial gave Beermen a 95-84 lead.
Rain or Shine made its last push to trim the deficit to 90-95 and still had a chance to come even closer but a turnover by Rey Nambatac led to game-sealing conversion from Cruz.
Perez finished the match with 21 points, while Brondial and Lassiter added 16 markers apiece as the Beermen surged to solo first place in the standings with 5-1 slate.
Cruz contributed 14 markers, Simon Enciso sniped two triples to end up with 12 markers, while June Mar Fajardo had double-double 10 points and 12 rebounds for SMB.
Jewel Ponferrada top-scored with 20 points, Nambatac chipped in 18 markers, while Norbert Torres and Andrei Caracut had 16 and 11 points as the Painters slumped to its fifth straight loss for 1-5 slate.
In the first game, TNT Tropang Giga leaned on another strong second half to defeat the slumping NorthPort Batang Pier, 117-112, to improve to 6-2 slate.
Down 55-63, the Tropang Giga relied on baskets by Mikey Williams and Roger Pogoy to tie the score at 76-all before taking an 85-78 edge on triples by Jayson Castro and Glenn Khobuntin.
TNT went on to build its largest lead at 97-84 but NorthPort went on a huge run to cut the deficit at 110-111 but a triple and two free throws from Castro sealed the win for TNT.
Williams drilled five treys to finish with 27 points, Pogoy chipped in 22 markers, while Castro and John Paul Erram ended up with 17 points each for defending champions TNT.
BOX SCORE:
SAN MIGUEL 99 – Perez 21, Lassiter 16, Brondial 16, Cruz 14, Enciso 12, Fajardo 10, Faundo 4, Pessumal 3, Herndon 2, Zamar 1, Canete 0.
RAIN OR SHINE 93 – Ponferrada 20, Nambatac 18, Torres 16, Caracut 11, Nieto 8, Ildefonso 6, Norwood 5, Santillan 5, Demusis 2, Asistio 2, Belga 0.
Quarterscores: 28-22, 49-45, 73-70, 99-93./PN
