MOST people expected it to be a blowout. But instead, an unexpected plot happened.
June Mar Fajardo needed all of his season-high 28 points and 15 rebounds to lead San Miguel Beer as it dodged an upset bullet and squeaked past gritty Mahindra, 94-91, to earn a share of first place in the 2016-17 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum yesterday.
The Beermen, who many thought will just cruise past their still winless foes, were unexpectedly pushed to the limit by the game Floodbuster, who even led by 13 points multiple times in the opening period.
Fajardo, who only missed one shot, shooting 12-of-13 from the field, scored four crucial points down the stretch, with his last two markers being the go-ahead as San Miguel took a slim 89-88 lead with 56 seconds remaining following a back-and-forth exchange for most of the payoff period.
Mahindra kept coming in the dying seconds and had a chance to force overtime, but Alex Mallari missed a wide open triple at the buzzer, allowing San Miguel to survive the legit scare it got.
The victory allowed San Miguel to tie Rain or Shine at 3-1 for the leadership, while the luckless Mahindra remained without a win and fell to 0-4 at the bottom.
“Next time, we can’t afford a game like this. We were so complacent,” admitted San Miguel coach Leo Austria. “We are struggling but I hope in the next few games, maka-recover na ‘yung team namin.”
Arwind Santos added 18 points, while Alex Cabagnot chipped in 15 markers of the bench for the Beermen.
Mahindra lost its first three games by an average of 18 points and in a surprising manner this time around, it showed up with its best performance of the tournament so far to impose a serious threat on the defending champion.
However, it was almost but still not quite for the Floodbuster.
San Miguel was caught off guard by Mahindra’s blistering start.
The Floodbuster surprisingly started on fire, taking a big 24-11 advantage 11 minutes into the game and held a 26-15 spread at the end of one.
Showing its championship composure, the Beermen remained calm and slowly but surely crawled their way back, winning the second frame and inching to within just two, 47-49, at the half to dig themselves out of trouble and making it anyone’s game in the second half.
Mallari led Mahindra with his team-high 21 points.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 94 – Fajardo 28, Santos 18, Cabagnot 15, Tubid 10, Garcia 9, Lassiter 8, Ross 4, Espinas 2, Agovida 0, Reyes 0, McCarthy 0, De Ocampo 0.
MAHINDRA 91 – Mallari 21, Eriobu 17, Revilla 15, Escoto 10, Yee 8, Ballesteros 5, Digregorio 3, Guevarra 3, Teng 3, Paniamogan 2, Salva 2, Arana 2, Celda 0, Webb 0.
Quarterscores: 26-15, 47-49, 71-66, 94-91