GAMES WEDNESDAY
(PhilSports Arena, Pasig)
5 p.m. – Converge vs. Terrafirma
7:30 p.m. – Phoenix vs. Rain or Shine
WITH the win in the bag, San Miguel Beer backup big man JM Calma posted up Blackwater counterpart Richard Escoto, pivoted to his left, and tricked his defender with a scoop shot last night.
Pulling away for good in the second quarter, the Beermen mangled the Bossing 115-78 for their third straight win and bolstered their bid for a top-four finish in the eliminations of the PBA Philippine Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
The 6-foot-6 Calma flashed a blissful smile on Escoto after making the basket that made it a 108-73 game with 4:01 remaining.
That also prompted reigning eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo to stand up from the bench and let out a huge roar and thundering claps in celebration of his teammate’s highlight play.
The victory, carved out on the heels of his charges’ similarly walk in the park 128-89 ripping of the Terrafirma Dyip last May 18, pleased SMB coach Leo Austria no end.
For good reason.
The Beermen missed three key players in Marcio Lassiter, Juami Tiongson, and Jeron Teng—all sitting out due to sore eyes.
“At the start of the game and actually the past two days, we were talking about our line-up. We were only 10. There’s no time for us to relax because we’ve seen Blackwater’s game against Ginebra. They almost beat Ginebra,” Austria said of the Bossing’s painful 99-101 loss to the Kings just last Friday. “That gave us a lot of concerns. I’m so happy because the players responded to what we were talking about.
“They want to win because with the situation right now, you don’t know if you will get into the top four. That’s our target. But right now medyo scramble doon kaya every game is important,” he added.
CJ Perez notched a game-high 20 points paired with two rebounds, on top of three assists for SMB while Fajardo turned in a double-double of 17 markers and 13 boards.
Calma had 16 and six while Don Trollano, Jericho Cruz, and Chris Ross also had 15, 13, and 11 points, respectively, for the Beermen, who rose to 6-2.
Blackwater absorbed its fifth loss in a row that dropped the Bossing to 1-7 in the season-ending tourney’s single round, 11-game eliminations.
SMB jumped to a 52-39 spread at the turn that ballooned to 86-57 entering the final 12 minutes.
A Mo Tautuaa three-pointer gave the Beermen their biggest lead at 113-76, only 1:14 to go.
Christian David produced 15 points and six caroms for Blackwater while RK Ilagan and BJ Andrade contributed 14 and 10 markers, respectively.
Even with its players recovering from sore eyes, the vision remains 20-20 for SMB.
