At A Glance
- San Miguel vented its ire NorthPort with a 126-91 drubbing to close out the eliminations as the No.1 seed in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Sunday, June 15.
CJ Perez drains 24 points for the San Miguel Beermen. (PBA Images)
San Miguel vented its ire NorthPort with a 126-91 drubbing to close out the eliminations as the No.1 seed in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo on Sunday, June 15.
Getting denied at securing a top 4 finish on their first try when they lost to Converge, the Beermen left nothing to chance this time and were dominant from start to finish against the Batang Pier.
NorthPort hardly had any resistance as SMB earned a share for the best record at 8-3 along with NLEX and Magnolia, but ended up claiming the top seed by virtue of a superior quotient.
By clinching the No.1 spot, San Miguel also got the twice-to-beat advantage, as well as the chance to eliminate eighth seed Meralco that would serve as a revenge of sorts against the same team that defeated them in the all-Filipino finals last season.
CJ Perez made sure that would be the playoff pairing for SMB after setting the tone to the Beermen's offensive thrust with 24 points, while Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano provided support with 17 points each.
June Mar Fajardo chalked up a double-double effort of 10 points and 11 rebounds even as Mo Tautuaa and Marcio Lassiter added 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The Beermen simply pounced on their size advantage, with Fajardo and Tautuaa taking turns in operating the paint. That opened the floodgates for SMB scoring as Perez, Trollano and Cruz followed suit with their outside sniping to sink the Batang Pier.
NorthPort ended the season at 10th with a 2-9 record with Joshua Munzon proving to be the bright spot with 19 points in a losing effort in their last game.