San Miguel drubs Meralco for second win on ring night
The San Miguel Beermen just won’t let the Meralco Bolts ruin the night when they were presented their championship rings for ruling the 2014-15 PBA Philippine Cup.
They didn’t start the way they wanted to, but finished as strong as they could, repulsing the Bolts, 101-85, for a second straight win in the all-Filipino tourney.
“Naging inspirasyon namin yon,” said coach Leo Austria of the ring ceremony held shortly before the game at the Big Dome.
Junmar Fajardo was somehow contained but Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross stepped up as the Beermen made it two in a row following a 97-86 conquest of the Globalport Batang Pier in Davao Saturday.
Beating out the Bolts in a match riddled with technical infractions, the Beermen drew level with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the NLEX Road Warriors in the lead at 2-0.
“We know Meralco is a tough team to beat. They’re almost a complete team with able players on every position. They prepared hard for the season with a training abroad to hone their skills,” said Austria.
“Yung kakulangan nila sa big man pinunan ni Bryan Faundo, Kelly Nabong at Rabeh Al-Hussaini. Pero meron pa rin naman kaming Junmar Fajardo. We took advantage of what Junmar can give us,” Austria also said.
The Bolts practically ganged up on Fajardo to cut down on his numbers. After powering his way to 21 points and 17 rebounds against the Batang Pier, the 6-foot-10 behemoth was held to 14 markers and 12 boards.
Nonetheless, Fajardo was a key component as they spoiled Jimmy Alapag’s and Rabeh Al-Hussaini’s PBA comeback and Chris Newsome’s PBA debut.
With an off-season training in Las Vegas, the Bolts played a solid game but tapered off at the finish, allowing the Beermen to come through with the 16-point triumph.
Couples of technical fouls were called, including a double-T on Kelly Nabong and Santos after throwing the ball at each other at the end of the first half.
But Santos kept his composure and wound up with a double-double game with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Cabagnot top scored with 18 points, with Lassiter and Ross adding 12 and 11, respectively, counting two treys each.
Alapag knocked in two treys and issued eight assists in his first game as a Meralco Bolt.
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