At A Glance
- Basking in the air of nostalgia, with the teams sporting their retro jerseys and the league playing another game inside the fabled Rizal Memorial Coliseum, San Miguel, the only remaining pioneer franchise left, displayed its old, dominant form.
Basking in the air of nostalgia, with the teams sporting their retro jerseys and the league playing another game inside the fabled Rizal Memorial Coliseum, San Miguel, the only remaining pioneer franchise left, displayed its old, dominant form.

June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez steadied the ship as San Miguel Beer hacked out a 110-98 victory over Meralco in the PBA’s golden anniversary celebration during the Season 49 Philippine Cup, Wednesday April 9.
Perez and Fajardo combined for 57 points – nine of which they poured during a telling 12-4 run to finally shake off the Bolts – the same team that defeated them in last season’s all-Filipino finale.
Perez exploded for 29 points laced with five rebounds, four assists and two steals while Fajardo had 28 points, 10 rebounds and four assists as the Beermen join the Magnolia Hotshots as the early conference leaders with similar 2-0 slates.
Jeron Teng, finally enjoying extended minutes, added 11 off the bench while Rodney Brondial had nine points and nine rebounds.
SMB led by as many as 17 in the contest but Meralco made a huge run in the third sparked by back-to-back four pointers from rookies CJ Cansino and Kurt Reyson.
The Bolts cut the deficit tojust two, 75-77, but it was also exactly when both Fajardo and Perez decided to take over and took turns in scoring for the Beermen. SMB regained footing and reestabished a 99-89 count and was never threatened again since then.
Chris Newsome paced Meralco with 27 points, seven assists and four rebounds while Reyson chipped in 14. Toto Jose and Aaron Black had 12 apiece while Cliff Hodge had 10 for the Bolts who absorbed their first loss through three games.