JUNE Mar Fajardo notched 23 points and 15 rebounds in leading San Miguel Beer to a 108-97 victory over Meralco Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium and into the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.
Don Trollano, Juami Tiongson and even Rodney Brondial were foremost among those who provided more than ample support as the top-ranked Beermen made short work of the eighth-seeded Bolts in the quarterfinals duel.
After officially wrapping up the wire-to-wire win SMB now awaits the winner of the other quarterfinals bracket pitting Barangay Ginebra against Converge with the No. 4 Gin Kings, like the Beermen, enjoying a win-once advantage.
For coach Leo Austria, making it to the Final Four is simply an atonement for his side's finals loss to Meralco in last year's edition of the same import-less tourney, as well as for their failure to make it past the eliminations in the last Commissioner's Cup.
"It's all about pride. In the last championship in the all-Filipino Meralco beat us and we redeemed ourselves from that loss. Last conference we did not even get to the quarterfinals now we're in the semifinals," said Austria.
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"I think it's a big achievement, but we've prepared for this conference to get all the way through to the finals and eventually win the championship," added Austria.
"But it's a long shot because the next opponent could be either Converge or Ginebra and we know how strong both those teams are."
There is enough time for the Beermen to savor the win which was made possible by their strong start that led to as many as three 16-point leads before keeping their poise when the Bolts whittled the deficit to just 75-77, late in the third period.
A more balanced attack spearheaded by Tiongson easily quelled the threat as SMB assumed full control and even stretched the difference to as much as 100-82 that effectively took the wind out of Meralco's sails, enabling the Beermen to cruise inside the final six minutes of the game.
Notwithstanding foul trouble that limited his action in the third period, Tiongson still finished with 19 points, with Trollano totaling the same points on top of six boards.
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CJ Perez was limited to just 14 points, almost 10 below his league-leading average, but issued a gamehigh eight assists with Brondial and Mo Tautuaa also finishing with a double-double of 13 and 12 and 10 and 11, respectively.
Chris Banchero fired 32 points and Chris Newsome added 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists but Norbert Torres was the only other Meralco player in double-digits with 13, highlighted by six straight points during a 10-2 run that brought the Bolts within 75-77.(NC)
The Scores :
SAN MIGUEL 108 - Fajardo 23, Trollano 19, Tiongson 19, Perez 14,Brondial 13, Tauatuaa 10, Cruz 5, Lassiter 3, Ross 0, Cahilig 0, Rosales 0.
MERALCO 97 - Banchero 32, Newsome 23, Torres 13, Quinto 6, Almazan 6, Hodge 5, Bates 4, Cansino 4, Jose 4, Pascual 0, Black 0, Rios 0.
QUARTERS: 35-20, 58-44, 81-75, 108-97
