SAN Miguel Beer taught vastly improved Blackwater a neat lesson last night — how to show resolve after squandering a big lead.
The Beermen held off the hard-fighting Bossing 110-107 in overtime for their fifth straight win and bolstered their bid of winding up in the top two after the eliminations of the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Prized SMB center June Mar Fajardo redeemed himself after muffing two free throws with 3.0 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter by calmly sinking two freebies that pegged the final count in the extra period, only 5.2 ticks left.
Blackwater still had one last crack at sending the game into a second extension, but Rashawn McCarthy came up with an airball on his last-gasp three-point try at the buzzer.
Fajardo notched a double-double of 25 points and 18 rebounds, to go with three assists for the Beermen, while Jericho Cruz did his part with 25 markers, four boards, and four dimes.
CJ Perez also had 23 points, eight caroms, and five feeds, while Mo Tautuaa added 17 and six for SMB, which scored a big follow-up to its 115-99 thumping of defending champion TNT four days ago and finished their elims campaign with eight victories against only one loss.
The surging Bossing’s four-game winning streak, counting a 91-89 decision over Phoenix last Friday, came to a screeching halt and slid to 5-2, still good for solo third.
Beermen coach Leo Austria admitted Blackwater gave his team fits.
“After watching their previous game, I knew this will be a tough game for us and it will be an exciting game. I thought it was all over after the third quarter, but Blackwater showed some character in the endgame,” Austria said.
“Maybe because a lot of their players are veterans and young ones, that’s what they need.
Their guards are really hard and clever to the point na talagang alam nila ang ginagawa nila, iyong execution nila is they follow to the letter,” he added.
After taking a 47-44 cushion at the half, SMB outscored the Bossing 35-21 in the third canto to take a comfortable 82-65 spread heading into the payoff period.
A Paul Zamar four-point play gave the Beermen their biggest lead 86-65 at the 11:32 mark of the fourth before Blackwater whittled the deficit and made it a seesaw battle.
McCarthy paced the Bossing with 22 points and three rebounds, while Rey Suerte added 18 markers.
Baser Amer, Jvee Casio, and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser also had 17, 15, and 11 points, respectively for Blackwater.
