By REYNALD MAGALLON
The twin towers of June Mar Fajardo and Bennie Boatwright lorded it over the shaded lane as San Miguel slammed the playoff door on Terrafirma, 126-110 in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Wednesday, May 6.
Boatwright capped his busy day that began with his naturalization hearing at the Senate with 33 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while Fajardo chalked up 30 points and 16 rebounds.
Save for a flat start that saw them trail 1-10 in the opening frame, it was all Beermen for the rest of the way leading by as many as 20 points before settling for the 16-point win.
Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano provided support with 17 apiece while CJ Perez chipped in 15.
With the victory, SMB forged a four-way tie with TNT, Magnolia and Phoenix for the fifth to eighth spots with similar 6-5 records.
Meanwhile, the Fuel Masters had their playoff plans get spoiled after the Macau Black Knights averted a huge collapse and held on to a 105-98 victory to essay their own graceful exit.
Jenning Leung exploded for a PBA career-high tying 32 points to help the Black Knights regain their footing after squandering an early 20-point lead and play spoiler’s role to Phoenix’s playoff plans
Ramon Cao contributed 21 points while Tony Mitchell also made sure to leave a lasting impression with 13 points and 22 rebounds as Macau ended their PBA stint with a 3-9 record.
Phoenix, which played without vastly-improved Ricci Rivero, actually took a 93-92 lead with less than five minutes left in the game but Macau just refused to give up and unloaded a back-breaking 8-0 run that put them up ahead for good.
Ken Tuffin paced the Fuel Masters with 27 while Jonathan Williams had 20 points, 22 rebounds and eight assists.
