SMB SQUEAKS PAST GINEBRA, CLAIMS SOLO 2ND
June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos beat out Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar at endgame of their exciting showdowns, and San Miguel Beer stopped Barangay Ginebra, 79-77, on its tracks to seize second place in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.
Fajardo and Santos combined for 43 points, including seven inside the last 25 seconds, enabling the Beermen to survive a shaky finish and move up to second behind unbeaten leader Alaska (6-0) with a fifth win against a lone defeat.
“Napagod kami ng husto because we prepared for three days for Ginebra, and I’m so happy we got this crucial win. It’s a good step in our bid for a Top Two finish,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
It was a tough game that was in the balance till the end.
Ginebra had a chance to force overtime but Joseph Yeo, struggling with 1-of-8 shooting in this contest, failed to hit the mark in his long heave at the buzzer.
With a first loss in their last four games, the Kings slid to joint third place with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at 5-2.
Austria said a big factor was Fajardo holding his ground against Ginebra’s giants.
“Isa lang ang higante namin against Ginebra’s three (Slaughter, Fajardo and Billy Mamaril). Both teams went to our giants, at importante yung ibinigay sa amin ni June Mar,” said Austria.
Fajardo scored on a reversed layup off Slaughter and knocked in a charity in the last 24 seconds to cap a 21-point and 15-rebound job dished out on the eve of his 25th birthday.
Santos also came through with a clutch performance fueling their decisive second-quarter run and firing four critical free throws in the last 15 seconds.
The former MVP winner scattered 10 points, leading an SMB charge that had them wiping out a 23-30 deficit and surging ahead at 38-33 at the turn.
The Beermen went on to lead by as many as 15 at 66-51 before facing the Kings’ own siege at endgame.
Slaughter, who also came up with a solid double-double game with 16 points and 18 rebounds, nailed a jumper off Fajardo as the Kings drew even at 72 with 40.7 seconds to go.
The Beermen regained the lead at 76-72 on a basket by Fajardo and two charities by Santos, but the Kings stayed in the fight until the final buzzer sounded.
Santos topscored with 22 points with Chris Lutz adding 10.
Meanwhile, Aguilar (15), LA Tenorio (10) and Jayjay Helterbrand (10) were three other Kings who finished in double figures. (SB)
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