MANILA – San Miguel Beermen survived a huge scare from Rain or Shine Elasto Painters for a 127-122 victory in the 2023-2024 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals last night at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The Beermen were leading by as much as 22 points at 125-103 via a Terrence Romeo conversion before the Painters staged a 12-0 scoring run behind Demetrius Treadwell, Leonard Santillan, and Keith Datu to cut the deficit to 115-125.
The Beermen extended the lead to 127-115 on a layup by Jaymar Perez, but the Painters responded with seven straight points from Santillan and Datu to make it a 122-127 final margin.
Bennie Boatwright Jr. led the way for the Beermen with a double-double of 41 points and 10 rebounds, while Ilonggo Jericho Cruz chipped in 20 markers, mostly in the final quarter.
Romeo and Chris Ross ended with 15 and 14 markers, respectively, June Mar Fajardo posted a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Perez tallied 11 markers for SMB.
The Beermen needed only to win once over the Painters to reach the semis due to their twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals for finishing the elimination round at second place.
The Beermen will face the winner of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings-NorthPort Batang Pier quarterfinals in a best-of-five semifinals series slated to begin next Wednesday.
San Miguel Beer were on fire in the opening quarter as they quickly jumped to a 30-20 lead but Rain or Shine slowly clawed their way back as they forced a 67-all score at the half.
The Painters were still hanging around in the third frame as they trail 80-85 before the Beermen went on a massive run behind Boatwright, Romeo, and Cruz to establish its biggest lead of 22 points.
Treadwell tallied 22 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists, Rey Nambatac added 16 markers, Datu and Adrian Nocum chipped in 14 each, while Gian Mamuyac, Andrei Caracut, Santillan, and Jhonard Clarito had 13, 12, 11, and 10, respectively, for ROS./PN
BOX SCORE:
SAN MIGUEL 127 – Boatwright 41, Cruz 20, Romeo 15, Ross 14, Fajardo 13, Perez 11, Lassiter 6, Trollano 4, Tautuaa 3.
RAIN OR SHINE 122 – Treadwell 22, Nambatac 16, Nocum 14, Datu 14, Mamuyac 13, Caracut 12, Santillan 11, Clarito 10, Belga 7, Norwood 3.
Quarterscores: 36-32, 67-67, 109-89, 127-122.
