San Miguel Beermen channeled their playoff version as they put an end to the seven-game winning streak of the top seed team Barangay Ginebra Kings, 107-103, in the PBA Governors’ Cup on Sunday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The San Miguel squad hardly broke a sweat in majority of the one-sided ball-game as they got its second straight big time victory, notching its fifth win in eight games, with the last two of it were gathered straight after suffering consecutive losses in their fifth and sixth games in the conference.
Even though the sloppy Ginebra showcased a ‘never-say-die’ attitude, the Beermen already established an unmanageable lead at the almost 40 minutes of the ball game — giving themselves a big chance to seal the win.
However, the Kings tried to pull themselves together in the last part of the fourth canto, narrowing the gap by as much as 8 points courtesy of Arwind Santos’ goal tending violation from LA Tenorio’s triple.
Ginebra was still forcing to gain some respect for themselves as the top seed by pulling a last-minute run but it was not enough as the Beermen had its own ways to answer back to claim their second consecutive win for an improved 5-3 win-loss record.
“Before this game, I’m really worried dahil we’re struggling on our game. We played ugly game and Ginebra is playing really well,” San Miguel Coach Leo Isaac said.
“I have to commend all the players, even though yung mga nasa bench. They keep on supporting those players playing well. They really showed what they have and I’m so proud of them,” he added.
The SMB’s newly-acquired import Watson provided sparks with 28 points while Santos and Ross contributed 23 and 20 points, respectively.
In a losing effort, Ginebra displayed balanced scoring with five of them contributing double-digit points, led by Aguilar’s 18.
The scores:
SAN MIGUEL 107 – Watson 28, Santos 23, Ross 20, Cabagnot 16, Fajardo 10, Lassiter 7, Rosser 3, Heruela 0, De Ocampo 0.
GINEBRA 103 – Aguilar J. 18, Tenorio 17, Slaughter 16, Brownlee 14, Ferrer 11, Thompson 7, Caguioa 3, Mercado 2, Aguilar R. 0, Taha 0.
Quarters: 30-16, 56-33, 87-65, 107-103.