San Miguel Beer continued the frustration of injury-hit Blackwater after rolling to a 107-88 win Saturday, Dec. 18 in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
A 17-3 start was all the Beermen needed to take control of the contest and register back-to-back victories after going 0-2 while stretching the Bossing’s frustrating skid to 23 consecutive games.
Marcio Lassiter scored 13 of his 18 points in the first quarter to lead SMB’s triumph. CJ Perez topscored with 21 points while new additions Vic Manuel and Simon Enciso added 16 and 13.
Coach Leo Austria said the two defeats to NLEX and Alaska to open the conference had a huge effect in SMB’s turnaround.
“Naging motivation yun para sa team dahil we cannot afford to lose another game or else we will be at the bottom of the standings,” said Austria.
“It’s a good thing the players realized the importance of our last two games, especially tonight because we do not want to be the victim of Blackwater,” he added.
Blackwater dropped to 0-4 this conference after playing without Jvee Casio, Baser Amer, Joshua Torralba and Andre Paras due to injuries.
The Bossing got a lift from Jong Baloria, a journeyman who had short PBA stints and numerous spells in the MPBL, after he made 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
But it was not enough to help Blackwater snap its skid.
Paul Desiderio put up 16 points, Rashawn McCarthy scored 14 while Barkley Ebona added 11 points and six rebounds.
Import Jaylen Bond struggled with nine points on 4-of-15 shooting despite grabbing 17 rebounds.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 107 — Perez 21, Lassiter 18, Manuel 16, Romeo 13, Enciso 13, Brown 12, Fajardo 7, Pessumal 4, Zamar 3, Tautuaa 0, Gotladera 0, Comboy 0, Sena 0.
BLACKWATER 88 — Desiderio 16, McCarthy 14, Ebona 11, Baloria 10, Bond 9, Escoto 8, Chauca 7, Washington 6, McAloney 5, Daquioag 2, Paras 0.
Quarters: 35-22, 64-44, 80-66, 107-88.