Bennie Boatwright regained his fiery form and led San Miguel Beer to a 106-96 victory over Barangay Ginebra to move on cusp of a Finals return in the 2023-’24 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday, Jan. 26.

Boatwright joined hands with Marcio Lassiter and June Mar Fajardo as the Beermen created the much-needed separation in the final frame to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five semifinals series.

The SMB import torched the Kings with 38 points built in six triples – none bigger than his booming triple that gave the Beermen a 99-93 lead with 1:47 left in the contest. Lassiter also joined in setting Ginebra ablaze with four treys to finish with 16 points – all of which came in the second half.

SMB is now at the doorstep of a possible first finals appearance since 2019 when it went on to win the title with import Chris McCullough and still under then head coach, now active consultant Leo Austria.

The Beermen simply clicked from all fronts with Fajardo finishing with 17 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high six blocks while CJ Perez picked from where he left off in Game 1 with 17 points and seven rebounds.

Also a testament to the team’s depth was Jeron Teng who provided quality minutes in the second half with seven points as the Beermen kept their control of the contest even after squandering an early double-digit spread.

Ginebra didn’t actually let SMB establish a sizeable margin after it led by as many as 10 points in the opening frame and even engaged the Beermen to a see-saw affair in the first few minutes of the fourth quarter.

It was only in the middle of the payoff period that the SMB started asserting its might on the floor with Boatwright and Lassiter presiding over a 7-2 spurt that created a six-point cushion for the Beermen.

Ginebra had some answers from Jamie Malonzo and Tony Bishop to keep itself within three, 96-93, but that was the closest the defending champions could get as Lassiter, Boatwright and Fajardo sealed the deal from the foul line.

Malonzo paced Ginebra with 27 points powered by six triples while Bishop added 25 points and nine rebounds. Christian Standhardinger was limited to just nine points but hauled down 14 rebounds although the Kings certainly needed more from him and the rest of the squad to keep their tournament hopes alive.