By REYNALD MAGALLON
San Miguel Beer unloaded a blistering fourth-quarter rally to pull away from a gritty Macau side, hacking out a 123-109 victory to kick off its PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup campaign on a good note at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Tuesday, July 14.
Playing without reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo and head coach Leo Austria, the Beermen weathered a tough challenge from the Giant Pandas through the first three quarters before breaking the game wide open with a decisive finishing kick.
Up only by three, 89-86, heading into the payoff period, SMB tore the game wide openg with a 25-10 run behind import George King, stretching the advantage to 114-96 and putting the contest beyond Macau’s reach.
King announced his PBA return with 30 points, five rebounds and seven assists while CJ Perez and Jericho Cruz finished with 21 and 20 points, respectively.
Rodney Brondial held the fort in Fajardo’s absence with a career-high 25 rebounds to go with 10 points, seven assists, four steals and a block. Jerrick Ahanmisi also had a solid debut with 16 points, while Don Trollano and Mo Tautuaa had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Robert Bolick and Schonny Winston formed a lethal one-two punch as NLEX kept its flawless start with a 135-100 victory over Titan Ultra to go 3-0 in the season-ending conference.
Winston was efficient in his 33 minutes on the court, firing 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists without a single turnover, while Bolick was equally impressive by unloading 29 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The Road Warriors actually had a strong first half, quickly building a double-digit spread before fending off some rare offensive runs from the Giant Risers in the final two quarters.
Titan Ultra came within 10, 74-64 in the third frame but NLEX suddenly pulled away behind a 38-18 fourth-quarter breakaway.
Import Dequan Jones added 22 points while Kevin Alas chipped in 14 points off the bench for NLEX.
