NAUNGUSAN ng San Miguel Beer ang Meralco, 113-108, sa larong maaaring makakuha ng leksiyon ang defending champion papasok sa matinding laban sa PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals, kahapon sa PhilSports Arena.
Makaraang magtarak ng hanggang 25 puntos na kalamangan sa third quarter, kinailangang makipagbuno ng Beermen sa stretch upang mapigilan ang paghahabol ng Bolts at tapusin ang eliminations na may apat na sunod na panalo na nagbigay sa kanila ng 7-5 record at opisyal na fifth seed sa susunod na round.
Ang manatiling matatag sa huling sandali ang dapat na maging pokus ng SMB sa pagharap sa dating tormentor at fourth-ranked Converge sa best-of-three quarterfinal showdown.
“I think we showed a lot of focus down the stretch even though we let the lead go down,” wika ni Devon Scott na tumapos na may 32 points at 13 rebounds.
“I think going forward to Converge we want to continue to have the same grit and focus,” dagdag ni Scott.
“They have a lot of great players, they have a really good import. But the focus and the attention to detail that we had for three quarters is what we have to take for the next game.”
Ang pagkatalo, ang ikatlong sunod at ika-8 sa 12 laro, ay opisyal na naglagay sa Meralco sa 10th place, ang kanilang pinakamalala sa isang conference na may imports.
Tumapos si KJ McDaniels na may 27 points at 8 rebounds, nag-ambag si Aaron Black ng 21 points at nagbuhos si Raymar Jose ng 16 points at career-high 16 caroms.
Nagposte si Marcio Lassiter, na ang ikatlong triple sa first half ay naglagay sa kanya sa unahan ni dating teammate Arwind Santos at sa seventh all-time sa kinamadang three-pointers sa liga na may kabuuang1,088, ng 13 points habang nag-ambag si Terrence Romeo, sumalang sa unang pagkakataon sa season, ng 12 points mula sa bench.
“He looked fine inside the court,” sabi ni SMB chief deputy Jorge Gallent, nag-substitute kay head coach Leo Austria sa ika-4 na sunod na laro, patungkol kay Romeo, na naglaro sa loob ng mahigit sa 16 minuto.
“His stamina was kind of okay, but we just don’t want to push his minutes kasi this is his first game in I think nine months, so you just got to let him feel the game so that when the playoffs come he had played already,” dagdag ni Gallent.
CLYDE MARIANO
Iskor:
San Miguel (113) – Scott 32, Lassiter 13, Romeo 12, Cruz 10, Perez 10, Fajardo 9, Enciso 8, Manuel 7, Tautuaa 6, Brondial 4, Zamar 2, Ross 0, Herndon 0.
Meralco (108) – McDaniel 27, Black 21, Jose 16, Quinto 15, Caram 9, Maliksi 7, Pasaol 4, Belo 4, Hugnatan 3, Hodge 2, Pascual 0, Baclao 0, Johnson 0.
QS: 28-21, 70-50, 94-73, 113-108.
