Beermen shoot for second win vs Fuel Masters
With a monkey off their back, the San Miguel Beermen look to get going, chasing win No. 2 as they tangle with the Phoenix Fuel Masters in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo Wednesday.
The Beermen eye a share of early league leadership with the Blackwater Elite as they slug it out with the Fuel Masters at 7 p.m.
“Nalagpasan namin ‘yun first game namin. Hindi maganda ang record namin in first game in a tourney. Naipanalo namin ngayon. Hopefully, magtuloy-tuloy,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
The Beermen ride the momentum of a rollercoaster 96-88 win over the Star Hotshots on opening day as they face the Phoenix squad that is likely to finally show up with Gilas draftee Matthew Wright.
The Fil-foreign gunner was down with a bum stomach when they suffered an 87-94 loss at the hands of the Blackwater Elite also during the season inaugurals last Nov. 20.
A spate of crucial errors also didn’t help the Fuel Masters in their season debut.
But even with a complete lineup, the Fuel Masters are likely to face an uphill climb versus June Mar Fajardo, Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos and their teammates.
San Miguel’s Big Three all played big to spoil the first game of coach Chito Victolero, Paul Lee, Aldrech Ramos and Jio Jalalon with the Hotshots.
Fajardo, the reigning three-time PBA MVP, started the season with a double-double game with 25 points and 16 rebounds, Cabagnot came up with 22 markers and eight assists while Santos contributed 17 points.
The Beermen, however, downplayed their win over the Hotshots.
“It’s just the first game. It’s going to be a long, long season (conference),” said Cabagnot.
“We have a lot to work on,” said Marcio Lassiter, noting their tough struggle against the retooled Star team.
“We’re going to look at the film and figure it out,” Lassiter said. “Star did a really good job of attacking our weaknesses, so we really need to do a better job at that, and closing out quarters. We’ve got to learn from that.”
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