The San Miguel Beermen avenged an earlier loss against the NLEX Road Warriors, 119-114, for their fourth win in the 2024 PBA Governors’ Cup on Wednesday, September 11, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Beermen made it back-to-back wins for a 4-2 record in Group B, while handing the Road Warriors their third loss in a row and dropping them to 3-4.
NLEX had stunned the Beermen, 112-108, when they first played in the conference and appeared headed for another upset win after taking a 92-86 lead at the end of three quarters.
But the Beermen outscored the Road Warriors, 33-22, in the final period to get back at their tormentors.
“I just told them in the second half that we just have to have pride in playing our one-on-one defense, so that there won’t be a lot of overhelping. They did very well in the second half. There were a few mistakes, but it wasn’t as much as the first half,” said Beermen coach Jorge Gallent after the game.
Cjay Perez led San Miguel with 24 points, but it was Marcio Lassiter who earned Player of the Game honors with 17 points and six boards.
He made four of his seven three-point attempts in the game to climb to second all-time in the league’s list, surpassing the great Allan Caidic.
“Just to be in this elite status is quite amazing, and I’m just truly grateful and thankful. [The] most important is to get the win. That’s what we needed to do tonight, and it was a great team win tonight,” said Lassiter.
June Mar Fajardo had 17 points and nine rebounds, and import Sheldon Mac had 16 points in 26 minutes.
Lassiter and Don Trollano did most of the damage for the Beermen in the closing stages, nailing the clutch hits that kept NLEX at bay.
The Road Warriors had gotten within four, 111-107, with 3:37 to play off a Myke Henry layup, but Trollano drilled a clutch jumper with under three minutes left that helped the Beermen remain in control.
Robert Bolick led the Road Warriors with 24 points and 15 assists, while Henry had 17 points. (ABS-CBN News)
SAN MIGUEL 119 — Perez 24, Fajardo 17, Lassiter 17, Mac 16, Trollano 16, Romeo 13, Cruz 10, Ross 3, Tautuaa 2, Brondial 1, Rosales 0, Nava 0.
NLEX 114 — Bolick 24, Miranda 18, Henry 17, Valdez 15, Rodger 11, Amer 10, Herndon 9, Policarpio 4, Marcelo 4, Fajardo 2, Nermal 0.
Quarterscores: 27-23, 57-57, 86-92, 119-114.