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MANILA, Philippines – The San Miguel Beermen bucked off a lethargic start and nabbed their fourth straight win after eking out a 109-107 decision over the Phoenix Fuelmasters in the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo Wednesday.
With the game tied at 100-all with a little over 2 mins left in the game, the Beermen pulled away thanks to a 6-0 run, with 4 coming from Terrence Watson, and late game mishaps by Fuelmasters Matthew Wright, who airballed a crucial three, and Brandon Brown, who turned the ball over with a minute left.
JC Intal buried a trey with 6 seconds remaining to put Phoenix within striking distance, 105-107, but Alex Cabagnot sank both his free throws to secure the win.
“I realized na when you’re on top, it’s really hard to win a game especially when you face the team at the bottom because they have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” said Beermen coach Leo Austria. “I’m happy to see some of the players who stepped up. It’s really hard to win.”
Phoenix got off to a hot start and even led by as much as 13 in the second period, 39-26, before San Miguel turned the tables. San Miguel ended the first half with a 56-52 lead courtesy of Cabagnot, Watson and June Mar Fajardo who combined for 28 of the Beermen’s 33 second quarter points.
Only 9 players played for San Miguel resulting to 3 Beermen scoring more than 20 points. Watson paced San Miguel with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks while Cabagnot and Fajardo added 24 apiece.
Brandon Brown dropped a game-high 30 points on top 17 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks in the losing effort while Jeff Chan chalked up 18 for the Fuelmasters who ended their campaign with only 2 wins of their 11 outings. The Beermen will face the Bolts on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.
“It’s a big game dahil Meralco and San Miguel want to get into the top 4 right away. If we lose, we will rely on the results of the other game but the good thing is kami ang huling maglalaro so alam namin ang posisyon kami meron for us to get into the top 4 (the good thing is we will play the last game of the elimination round so we know where we are in our hunt for the top 4),” Austria added.
Scores
San Miguel (109): Watson 26, Cabagnot 24, Fajardo 24, Santos 15, Lassiter 13, Ganuelas 4, Espinas 3, Tubid 0, Ross 0
Phoenix (107): Brown 30, Chan 18, Intal 12, Eriobu 10, Alolino 9, Wilson W. 8, Dehesa 7, Wright 5, Lanete 4, Jazul 2, Kramer 2, Ababou 0, Hayes 0, Miranda 0, Wilson J. 0
Quarter scores: 23-28, 56-52, 86-77, 109-107
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