By REYNALD MAGALLON
June Mar Fajardo towered over the frontcourt duo of Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar as San Miguel stamped its class over Converge, 96-90, in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Sunday, Nov. 2.
The Beermen showed exactly why they are the reigning all-Filipino champions with Fajardo throwing his weight around in the paint and Juami Tiongson delivering key baskets in the payoff period.
Fajardo posted a double-double of 24 points and 16 rebounds laced with four assists and two blocks while Tiongson had a blistering stretch in the final frame where he fired all of his 14 points to help SMB list its third straight victory.
SMB, after a 0-2 start to its title-retention bid, has now strung together three straight victories to move above the 0.500 mark after improving to a 3-2 slate.
The Beermen created the separation in the third frame where they went on an 11-2 run before the defending champions showed poise to keep the FiberXers at bay.
But more than the offensive explosions, it was the defense of SMB that set the tone for the team as it successfully limited the explosive backcourt of Converge.
Alec Stockton and Juan Gomez de Liano combined for a 4-of-21 shooting from the field with the former only finishing six and the latter mustering eight.
Barangay Ginebra went off to a hot start and never looked back to rip NLEX apart, 104-74, and arrest a two-game slide.
The Kings came out firing on all cylinders in the opening frame, quickly establishing a big lead and then fending off every Road Warriors rally to pick up their only second win in five games.
Japeth Aguilar set the tone for the rout with his 25 points which also went with five rebounds and a block while Stephen Holt added 20 points built on three triples.
Scottie Thompson also orchestrated the assault with his 11 assists to go with his 12 points and six rebounds as the Kings led by as many as 27 points in the wire-to-wire win that also snapped the Road Warriors’ three-game winning run.
Xyrus Torres had 17 points spiked by five triples to lead NLEX while Jonnel Policarpio added 13 but to no avail.
Main man Robert Bolick, although with 11 assists, was a missing piece in the Road Warriors offense with only four points to show on a measly 1-of-7 clip from the field including a 0-of-3 shooting from deep.
