By Adrian Stewart Co

The San Miguel Beermen notched their first win of the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup after a 99-91 victory over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Christian Standhardinger led the Beermen with 26 points, while Chris Ross and Marcio Lassiter combined for 10 triples to finish with 22 and 16 points, respectively.

Holding a slim 20-17 lead, the Beermen drew strength from conversions by Standhardinger and back-to-back outside hits from Kelly Nabong for a 44-35 halftime lead.

Their lead expanded in the third period with Ross and Lassiter finding their shooting touch from outside, and Standhardinger and June Mar Fajardo scoring inside, for a 73-51 edge.

Barangay Ginebra made a strong push in the fourth quarter behind Bernabe Teodoro and LA Tenorio to come to within 89-94 but a triple by Lassiter and a basket from Ross wrapped up Beermen’s win.

Tenorio finished with 24 points, while Japeth Aguilar and Gregory Slaughter had 20 and 11 markers, respectively./ASC. WDJ