By REYNALD MAGALLON
San Miguel went off to a fiery start and never cooled down to torch TNT, 111-92, in Game 2 of the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Friday, Jan. 23.
The Beermen erupted for 39 points in the opening quarter and led by as many as 24 — an advantage that the defending champions never relinquished even in the face of the repeated comeback efforts from the Tropang 5G.
Don Trollano epitomized the big bounce back game from SMB as he recovered from a four-point showing in Game 1 to a 22-point performance in the second match of the best-of-seven series.
June Mar Fajardo and Mo Tautuaa continued to be a problem for the Tropang 5G inside the paint with the former posting 17 points and 16 rebounds while the latter had 14 points.
CJ Perez chipped in 13 despite dealing with foul trouble while Marcio Lassiter, after a scoreless showing last time out, also bounced back with 12.
TNT did show some signs of life in the second half, first in the third frame when it cut the lead down to just 10 points, 54-64, but SMB quickly regained its footing behind huge hits from Chris Ross and Fajardo.
When it looked like TNT already raised the white flag when it fielded its benchwarmers after the Beermen reestablished a 20-point lead in the fourth, the Tropang 5G had another fight in them and cut the lead down to 10 once more, 87-97.
But just like in their previous rallies, the Beermen simply had answers to every Tropang 5G run as Trollano, Cruz and Lassiter put on the finishing touches.
Rey Nambatac paced TNT with 17 points while Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser added 15.
