San Miguel reminded everyone that there’s more to its team outside June Mar Fajardo.

With the seven-time MVP not having the same dominant night like in the past two games, Marcio Lassiter, CJ Perez and Don Trollano took on the scoring cudgels to help the Beermen fend off the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 117-107, and seize a commanding 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven semifinals series in the PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday, May 22.

The trio all breached 20-point scoring mark to help SMB reassert its mastery over Rain or Shine, beating them for the 10th straight contest over the last three years before a sellout crowd at the Dasmariñas City Arena in Cavite City.

Perez decided to take the leading role for SMB after only providing support to Fajardo’s dominance in the first two games, pouring a double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds.

Lassiter, who was chasing the all-time three-point record, backstopped Perez with  21 points built on five triples – none bigger than the back-breaking trey from the left wing that gave SMB a seven-point cushion, 112-105, with 42 seconds left.

Trollano, for his part, found the perfect time to boost the Beermen off the bench with his own double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds at a time when Fajardo could only muster 11 points and 11 boards.

Chris Ross also had 12 points on four conversions from deep while Terrence Romeo had 13 points, although he got the ire from ROS head coach Yeng Guiao after nailing a triple in the waning seconds when the contest was already over and settled.

SMB aims to close out the series on Friday, May 24, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Like in the past two games, ROS did put its best foot forward and actually even stayed within striking distance all throughout the contest behind its stellar shooting from the deep.

However, the Beermen still managed to keep their head above the water even with the 18 triples the Elasto Painters made.

SMB led by as many as 11 points in the second half although ROS battled back and came closest at four, 109-105, with 1:30 left.

That was exactly when Lassiter drilled the trey that proved to be the dagger to the Elasto Painters' hearts.

Beau Belga led the balance scoring for ROS with 19 points built on six triples, while Adrian Nocum, Jhonard Clarito and Keith Datu all finished with 14 each. 

The Elasto Painters, however, will need more than that if they wish to overcome the huge series deficit  – a feat that no one had even achieved in PBA history other than the Beermen.