By Adrian Stewart Co

The San Miguel Beermen overcame a paltry start and scored a come-from-behind 113-107 victory over NorthPort Batang Pier in the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

June Mar Fajardo finished with double-double for the Beermen, scoring 40 points and making 19 rebounds; while Terrence Romeo added 23 markers, including five triples.

After misfiring their first eight shots and being down by as much as 13 points, the Beermen rallied in the third period behind Romeo, Fajardo, and Marcio Lassiter for a 76-65 lead.

Inside hits by Fajardo extended the Beermen’s lead to its largest at 83-68 but Batang Pier went on a late third period run to come to within 84-77 but the eventual winners managed to pull away anew, leading 103-92 midway in the fourth.

Batang Pier made its last push to come to as close as 105-103 after a triple by Stanley Pringle but back-to-back inside hits by Fajardo and a three-pointer by Chris Ross sealed the win for the Beermen./ASC, WDJ